21st September 2017
How should a poll be reported when it finds that around half agree with something while half do not? Does it mean the glass is half full or half empty? Does the answer, perhaps, simply depend on your political perspective? Last week marked the twentieth anniversary of the 1997 devolution referendum in which voters in […]
6th June 2017
North of the border the election was meant to be a battle between a nationalist movement that was on the defensive and a Conservative party that was seeking to cement its newly acquired position as the principal voice of unionism in Scotland. Labour, meanwhile, was to be consigned to the margins of Scottish politics. However, […]
22nd May 2017
A poll from YouGov for The Times, whose results first started to emerge on Friday and the final instalment of which is published today, is the first Scottish poll to have been conducted since the week the UK general election was announced. It suggests that, so far at least, the sound and fury of the […]
1st May 2017
There have been various bits and pieces of polling published during the first full week of campaigning since Theresa May announced a snap general election to take place on June 8. Most important was a new poll from YouGov for The Times which provided us with another reading of Westminster vote intentions. in Scotland. Most […]
23rd April 2017
Theresa May’s decision on Tuesday to seek Commons approval for an early UK general election means that the strength of her party’s revival north of the border will not only be tested in the local council elections on 4 May, but also in a Westminster ballot five weeks later. Two polls of vote intentions for […]
30th November 2016
Today is, of course, St Andrew’s Day and the deadline for responses to the SNP’s ‘National Survey’ on how Scotland should be governed. To mark the occasion, The Times commissioned a poll from YouGov on attitudes towards Brexit and indyef2 together with Holyrood vote intentions. Nicola Sturgeon must be wishing that it had not bothered. […]
11th October 2016
Once upon a time the early autumn of the average London-based political journalist consisted of three weeks spent at three UK party conferences and then a return to their regular beat at Westminster. The SNP’s gathering during the ‘October break’ could be left to their colleagues in Edinburgh and Glasgow to cover. After all, little […]
5th May 2016
Today’s Times carries the final opinion poll of the Scottish Parliament election campaign, conducted by YouGov between Monday and yesterday. This is the only poll of the campaign that would usually be regarded as a ‘final poll’, that is one that has been conducted sufficiently closely to polling day that its accuracy can reasonably be […]
3rd May 2016
The latest poll of voting intentions for Thursday’s election, conducted by Survation for the Daily Record, is of particular interest for two reasons. First, in contrast to Survation’s previous polls it was conducted by phone rather than via the internet. Second, the wording of the question used to ascertain voting intentions on the list vote […]
1st May 2016
A poll by Panelbase in today’s Sunday Times Scotland provides Labour with some relatively encouraging news in its attempt to stay ahead of the Conservatives at Holyrood. At 23% on the constituency vote and 22% on the list, the party is estimated to be six and three points ahead of the Conservatives respectively. Such an […]
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