SUPPORT for Scottish independence has fallen again, according to a new poll.
The survey for Sky News shows 39% would vote Yes to independence, while 47% would back No.
With don't knows removed Yes is on 46% with No on 54%.
The poll also revealed that, regardless of their view on independence, 52% of the public believed Scotland would still be part of the UK in 10 years' time.
It is in stark contrast to the Find Out Now poll published last week by The National/ScotGoesPop which put support for independence on 52%.
GET THE LATEST HERALD SUBSCRIPTION OFFER: Subscriptions from HeraldScotland
The Sky poll found voters were split over the SNP's record. Some 44% said Nicola Sturgeon's party were doing a good job while 46% thought the opposite.
However, 62% of voters thought the Scottish Government was doing badly on health.
Nevertheless, the SNP are still far ahead of their rivals. At the next general election, they are on target to win 39% of the vote, ten points ahead of Labour.
On the Holyrood constituency vote they are at 43%, above Labour on 26%.
Holyrood Constituency:
— Mark McGeoghegan (@markmcgeoghegan) March 13, 2023
SNP - 43% (+1)
Lab - 26% (-2)
Con - 15% (-3)
LD - 8% (nc)
Greens - 4% (+2)
Other - 4% (+1)
Holyrood List:
SNP - 35% (nc)
Lab - 25% (-2)
Con - 16% (-2)
Greens - 11% (+2)
LD - 8% (+1)
Ref UK - 3% (+1)
Alba - 2% (nc)
Other - 1% (+1) pic.twitter.com/1I8fTO4ogx
Like most polls carried out in the wake of Nicola Sturgeon’s shock resignation, Kate Forbes is the most popular choice with all voters to take over. Some 27% said she would be a good first minister.
Another 22% backed Humza Yousaf and 14% thought positively of Ash Regan.
READ MORE: SNP race sliding into 'paranoia and mistrust' amid vote rigging row
But when asked who they thought would be a bad leader of the country, Mr Yousaf topped the poll, with 44% picking him, 39% critical of Ms Regan and 36% pessimistic about Ms Forbes.
The majority of voters thought the three in the race to replace Ms Sturgeon woudl do a worse job than the Glasgow Southside MSP.
Just 17 per cent thought Ms Forbes would do better, 8% believed Ms Regan would be an improvement. Only 6% had confidence in Mr Yousaf.
The Sky News poll comes ahead of the channel's hustings on Monday night.
Pamela Nash, chief executive of Scotland in Union, welcomed the survey. She said: “This is another poll showing support for independence decreasing, and reaffirms again that Scots want a government that focuses on the issues that really matter.
“While the SNP continues to obsess about independence, the public want to hear what the next leader plans to do abouhealth, education and the cost-of-living crisis.
“The three candidates for First Minister should heed this poll and take plans for another referendum off the table.
“It’s time for the people’s priorities, not the SNP’s.”
READ MORE: Little support for SNP minister's call for party to 'go down a gear'
Alba’s General Secretary Chris McEleny said the poll should be a wake up call for the independence movement.
"We cannot afford to be divided at this crucial moment in our movement’s history, or to allow support for independence to continue to suffer because of unpopular policies that have been allowed to take priority over independence because of pressure from Green Party ministers," he said.
"We must be united in our efforts to secure Scotland's independence, and we must be focused on the needs and aspirations of the Scottish people. Any incoming First Minister must move their focus away from polarising policies such as Gender Reforms and deliver on the priorities of the entire population."
SNP President Michael Russell was positive about the poll: "This latest poll shows exactly why Westminster is running scared of a referendum on Scottish independence.
"Removing don't knows, as most headline figures do, Yes support sits at 46% - a rock solid starting point ahead of any future campaign. The opposition know that a referendum is on them to lose - and their arguments of stability under Westminster control are crumbling.
"This poll shows increasing support for the SNP at Holyrood and Westminster - an achievement after 16 years in government that our opponents could only dream of.
"Westminster cannot continue to hide from democracy. While the SNP continues to bring our positive vision of an independent Scotland to the people who live here, that support will only continue to grow."
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel