Scottish independence support narrows in latest poll

Support for Scottish independence has a narrow lead at 51% to 49%, an opinion poll suggests.

YouGov’s figures are based on fieldwork in early November and represent a decrease in the lead for Yes since its previous research in August, which put Yes at 53% and No at 47%.

Both sets of figures discount people who were undecided and those who said they would not vote.

As the latest numbers were released on Thursday, the polling company said  “all these figures are within the margin of error of a dead heat”.

Several opinion polls in recent months have recorded a lead for the pro-independence vote.

YouGov’s sample of 1,089 adults in Scotland were also asked about voting intention for next year’s Scottish Parliament elections.

It put the SNP on 56% for the constituency vote and 47% for the regional list.

The Scottish Conservatives stood at 19% and 20% respectively, while Scottish Labour were on 15% and 13%.

In an online post accompanying the figures, YouGov’s Adam McDonnell said: “If next May’s Scottish elections reflect these figures, the SNP would be on course for a comfortable majority, increasing its number of seats at Holyrood.”

Respondents were also polled on whether they felt certain politicians were doing a good job or not.

There was a slight drop in Nicola Sturgeon’s job approval ratings from 72% to 67% between YouGov’s polling in August and November.

For Boris Johnson, 20% said he is doing a good job as Prime Minister while 41% feel Sir Keir Starmer is doing a good job as leader of the Labour Party.

The polling also found Scots are broadly in favour of the tiered approach to coronavirus restrictions.

Some 64% said they back having areas in different levels of restrictions depending on the spread of the virus, while 24% said they favour measures being taken across Scotland at the same time.