THREE in five Scots believe Nicola Sturgeon made Scotland a better place, according to a new poll.
In a wide-ranging snap survey carried out by Ipsos following the First Minister’s resignation earlier this week, 59% polled said Sturgeon had changed Scotland for the better, while 31% said she had made it worse.
But 54% said her resignation would harm the case for Scottish independence – a figure which fell slightly to 49% among Yes voters.
On her record in government, the picture was more mixed. While 60% said she had done a good job of making Scots feel more proud of their country, just 28% said she had done a good job improving the country’s NHS.
Some 46% of those polled said she had done a bad job with the health service.
Her record on climate change came out more favourably, with 49% saying she had done a good job on taking action on the climate crisis, and the same saying she had maximised Scotland’s influence on global issues.
Only 30% of Scots thought Sturgeon had done a good job improving the education system – with 43% saying she had done a bad job.
Ipsos said these issues in particular would pose thorny challenges for her successor.
The polling also looked at who the country would like to see replace Sturgeon as first minister.
Kate Forbes – who is yet to announce whether she will stand – came out in the lead, with 31% saying she would do a good job.
John Swinney – who has ruled himself out of the race – came second, while 30% said they though Scottish Labour Anas Sarwar would make a good first minister.
Many expected to run appeared to face problems with name recognition, with marginally more people saying they did not know who Forbes was versus those who thought she would be a successful FM.
Some 39% of those polled did not know who Constitution Secretary Angus Robertson was – with 24% saying he was cut out for the top job.
Humza Yousaf had, among the SNP politicians listed, the highest number of people saying they thought he would do a bad job as first minister, with 37% saying he was not up to the task.
But Scottish Tory leader Douglas Ross suffered even worse numbers in this regard – with most Scots (58%) saying he would make a bad first minister.
Emily Gray, managing director of Ipsos in Scotland, said: “These new results taken the day after Nicola Sturgeon’s resignation underline that her successor faces a hefty in-tray, with the public critical of Scottish Government performance on the NHS and education in particular.
“Although Kate Forbes emerges as the preferred choice among the possible contenders as First Minister, followed by Angus Robertson, name recognition for both of them is currently limited.
“Three in ten of the public say they don’t know who Kate Forbes is and four in ten say the same of Angus Robertson.”
