A former leader of the SNP at Westminster has launched a new polling and research organisation to study public opinion north of the border.

Progress Scotland, headed by Angus Robertson, will commission polls, focus groups and research funded by subscriptions and donations.

Robertson was an SNP MP for sixteen years from 2001 before losing his Moray seat to the Conservatives.

He led the SNP group in the House of Commons and was his party’s depute leader for around 16 months. Robertson was also in charge of the SNP’s Holyrood election campaigns in 2007 and 2011.

He is opening a new chapter in his life by preparing to launch Progress Scotland, which will examine public opinion in the wake of the referenda on independence and Brexit.

Mark Diffley, who was the lead pollster for the UK Government in the run-up to the independence referendum, will be conducting the polling and research.

Speaking ahead of the launch, Robertson said: “Progress Scotland aims to help prepare the case for Scotland to progress towards independence, keeping pace with the views of the people who make their lives here. With the help and support of subscribers we will research the opinion of people in Scotland and test their appetite to emulate the most successful small countries in the world. We will provide insight and analysis on what is needed to persuade people on the case for Scotland to make progress."

Diffley explained his involvement in the project:

“Scotland has been my home for nearly 20 years and I have witnessed how the country has changed and continues to change. We are at a time when it has never been so important to listen to the people of Scotland and understand what the public is thinking”.

"I am going to conduct the polls and research for ‘Progress Scotland’ and I am very excited to see what we will find. With so much going on with Brexit and the debate about Scotland’s future; now is the right time to ask people about their opinions, how they are changing and why. It makes sense to try and understand people’s hopes and concerns especially at this time of change”.

However, Tory MSP Murdo Fraser queried the basis of the new organisation. “You would have thought by now that Angus Robertson would have learnt the lesson of the 2017 general election, where he and his colleagues lost their seats to the Conservatives. The majority of Scots have no interest in independence and even less interest in a rerun.

“This may be a good business opportunity for him, but I fear he is wasting his and everyone else’s time.”

Ahead of the launch, Progress Scotland released a series of interviews with individuals who are now backing independence. Chris Wilson, a politics student and young Liberal Democrat member from Lanarkshire said: “Lib Dems like me will have to make a choice sooner or later about which Union we prefer. I choose for Scotland to set its own path as a progressive, socially democratic society within the European Union, not as part of an increasingly right wing intolerant United Kingdom.

“While I was a ‘No’ supporter in 2014 I have changed my mind since, and I would vote ‘Yes’ today for Scottish independence in Europe, for the sake of my generation and the ones that will follow.

Youth activist Erin Mwembo, who recently left school, said:

“At the time of the independence referendum I was too young to vote, but having looked at the issues I would probably have voted ‘No’. Since then however, my views have changed and like most young people in Scotland I now support independence.

“Being responsible for our own future and making better decisions closer to home is definitely the best future for Scotland and everyone who lives here. Looking at the Brexit mess at Westminster I’m convinced we can do better, and protect our place in Europe. I know that many people, like me, have been changing their views on independence. And I think many more will do the same.