SUPPORT for Scottish independence is currently at near-record high levels – and comfortably above the majority needed to end the Union come a second referendum.
But our exclusive poll, carried out between January 11-18 this year, gives us loads of insight into who supports Yes and who doesn’t.
We dug into the detail of the poll to give you more insight into the latest Scottish independence survey, which put Yes on 52% (excluding don’t knows and those unlikely to vote).
OUR POLL SERIES: Independence, Brexit, the monarchy: New poll series starts TODAY READ THE EXPERT ANALYSIS: Support for independence at 54%: what the latest polling tells us
The Labour Yesser
The poll showed considerable minority support for independence among 2019 Labour voters – with 34% of people who backed the party at the last Westminster election saying they would vote Yes in a referendum.
Tory voters overwhelmingly opposed independence, the poll showed, with 94% saying they would vote No – while 18% of LibDem supporters said they would vote Yes. 78% said they wanted to stay in the Union.
Social classes
The National Readership Survey’s social grade system is based on professions and groups people into grades A, B, C1, C2, D and E – it doesn’t map directly onto wealth, though a rough comparison can be drawn with those in the A and B categories employed in senior managerial positions, ordinary managerial positions and typically middle-class professions.
People in the D and E categories include semi-skilled and unskilled workers and people in casual employment.
Our poll showed that pro-Yes sentiment ranked highest among those ranked as working class or below.
Those in the social ranks D and E backed Yes by 61%. In contrast, those at the top of the scale in ranks A and B were least likely to support Yes, polling at just 41%.
Geographical differences
According to our poll, the strongest support for independence was in Glasgow, Scotland’s largest city.
Across Scotland, Yes enjoyed majority support in Central Scotland (57%), Glasgow (63%), the Highlands (62%), Lothian (56%) and the North East (51%), while No led in Mid Scotland (48%), South Scotland (40%) and West Scotland (46%).
Age
Consistently, young people are shown as the strongest supporters of independence while older voters tend to back the Union – our poll is no different.
Worth noting is the consistency of support for Yes up to the age of 45.
Yes enjoyed majority support among all age groups until the 45-54 cohort – 51% of whom said they would vote No.
The most pro-independence age group was those aged 18-24, 71% of whom said they would back Yes.
Among those aged 25-34, 70% backed Yes while support for independence among those 35-44 stood at 58%.
Among 55–64-year-olds No was backed by 51% of voters, while the over 65s were the strongest constituency for No with 61% saying they would vote against independence.
