More than half of Scots would vote No to independence

AN OPINION poll suggests more than half of Scots would vote No in an independence referendum.

In the first poll on Scottish voting intention released in 2023, backing for a No vote was at 54 per cent, with the Yes vote at 46 per cent, when “don’t knows” are removed. The poll asked respondents how they would vote if the next Westminster election was a “de facto referendum on Scottish independence”.

It comes after a number of polls at the end of 2022 put Yes ahead of No on the independence question. The latest poll was carried out by Survation for advisory company True North, with 1,002 Scots being surveyed between Jan 10 to Jan 12. This took place before the UK Government used its Section 35 powers to block Holyrood’s gender recognition reform legislation, triggering a constitutional dispute.

For Westminster voting intention, the poll put the Scottish National Party on 43 per cent, Labour on 29 per cent, the Conservatives on 18 per cent and the Lib Dems on 7 per cent.