Comment

Brexit, Coronavirus and the Economy: Three Key Issues in the Independence Debate

20th October 2020

The last week or so has seen the publication of three further polls of attitudes towards Scotland’s constitutional status. Two of them, from Ipsos MORI (for STV News) and from Savanta ComRes, continued the gradual trickle of polls this year of how people would vote in another independence referendum. The third, from Survation (for the […]


Twenty years of changing attitudes towards Holyrood and Westminster

29th September 2020

Today sees the publication by the Scottish Government of a Scottish Social Attitudes (SSA) report on how attitudes in Scotland towards the devolved and UK-wide institutions have evolved since the Scottish Parliament was created in 1999. Throughout the last twenty years SSA has regularly tracked attitudes towards how Scotland is and should be governed, thereby […]


YouGov Confirm Yes Ahead

12th August 2020

Until now, all of the evidence that there has been a further swing in favour of independence in recent months has come from just one pollster – Panelbase. In the absence of any other polling, it was not unreasonable to ask whether, perhaps, they might just possibly have got it wrong, though the reaction of […]


A Coronavirus swing in favour of Independence?

5th July 2020

The latest Panelbase poll for The Sunday Times confirms the message of other polls that the company has undertaken in recent weeks for a variety of (pro-independence) clients. Support for independence has grown further, such that, if the polling is correct, Yes might will win any independence referendum that was held now. The poll puts […]


The 2019 Election: A Constitutional Cry or a Brexit Ballot?

22nd May 2020

The reverse suffered by the SNP in the election in June 2017 resulted in Nicola Sturgeon putting her plans to hold a second independence referendum on ice. In contrast, the recovery in the party’s position in the election last December encouraged the First Minister to claim that she now had a mandate to pursue another […]


Big Events, Little Reactions?

5th April 2020

The Alex Salmond trial was expected to make political waves. It may eventually do so. But as the trial progressed so the coronavirus pandemic came increasingly to dominate the country’s attention – and eventually bring the rhythms of everyday life, as well as its politics, to a halt. Still, we might be wondering what immediate […]


Brexit Day Polls Show Increased Support for Yes

7th February 2020

Brexit day was greeted north of the border with as many as three polls of how people would vote in another independence referendum – one from YouGov, one from Survation, and one from Panelbase. Between them they appeared to confirm the already substantial evidence that the pursuit of Brexit is undermining popular support for the […]


Does Scotland Want IndyRef2 This Year?

17th January 2020

The outcome of last month’s general election has paved the way for a constitutional confrontation between the UK and the Scottish Governments. The success of the Conservatives in winning an overall parliamentary majority of 80 has ensured that the UK will leave the EU at the end of this month. But equally, the success of […]


Welcome to the Relaunched Site!

7th January 2020

As you might already have noticed (and we foreshadowed last month) over the New Year we have launched a redesigned version of the whatscotlandthinks website. The site was originally launched in June 2013 in advance of the Scottish independence referendum. Ever since then it has endeavoured to provide a comprehensive database of polling data on […]


Brexit or Indyref2? The Foundations of the SNP’s Electoral Advance

19th December 2019

The outcome of the 2019 UK general election has added a new twist to the debate about Scotland’s constitutional future. Thanks to the Conservatives’ success in winning an overall majority, it is now clear that the UK will leave the European Union. However, in Scotland, the Conservatives fell back while the SNP enjoyed an eight- […]


Filter by