Scots more politically engaged than people in rest of UK, finds survey

SCOTS have become far more politically engaged than people south of the Border since the independence referendum in 2014, according to a report.

The poll saw a huge turnout of 84.6 per cent swell the public’s appetite for politics with interest levels rising even higher since, according to a survey carried out by Ipsos Mori.

The findings follow interviews with 1,200 people across Britain, including 200 in Scotland, carried out in December last year on behalf of the Hansard Society.

The society’s 13th annual audit of public attitudes to politics noted that Scots remain “considerably more interested in and knowledgeable about politics than in previous years and significantly more engaged than the British population overall”. It went on: “This situation has not just been maintained but has improved still further this year; knowledge levels in Scotland have grown a further nine points and interest levels have increased by 14 points.”

This meant people in Scotland, compared to the overall British population, had a higher degree of claimed knowledge of politics – 65 per cent to 55 per cent – and a much higher claimed interest in politics – 74 per cent to 57 per cent. The audit noted: “The referendum effect recorded in last year’s audit thus appears to have been augmented by the General Election bounce in this audit.

“It is, therefore, likely but not certain that engagement levels in Scotland will be maintained at these relatively high levels in next year’s audit, given that in the intervening months there will be elections to the Scottish Parliament and the EU referendum.”

The annual check also shows Scottish voters are the least convinced that the UK Parliament works best for them and have the highest conviction that Britain’s political system needs improving.

John Curtice, professor of politics at Strathclyde University, said: “We have had some hard evidence the referendum left a legacy shown in the General Election turnout in Scotland, which was 71 per cent, while in England and Wales it was about 66 per cent.

“It was up one per cent across the UK but up six or seven points in Scotland.”

Mr Curtice added the “proof of the pudding” would be the turnout for the Holyrood elections. The society said its audit showed the further away people lived from Westminster, the greater the level of dissatisfaction they felt with how politics worked.

Overall as with last year, only one-third of Britons expressed general satisfaction with the way the UK was being governed with three in five people saying it needed improvement.