SUPPORT for independence remains at the same level it was since Nicola Sturgeon took over as First Minister more than seven years ago.

A poll published today found that when “don’t knows” are excluded the country's overall stance was what it was in 2014.

On September 18, 2014, 55 per cent of voters backed remaining in the UK while 45 per cent supported Scotland becoming independent.

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The YouGov survey, commissioned for The Times, found of those who gave a view 38 per cent of respondents would vote for Scottish independence in another referendum, a drop of two points since November, while support for the Union remained at 46 per cent, with 11 per cent undecided, an increase of two points.

The remainder either refused to reveal their intentions or said they would decline to vote.

The poll also showed that Ms Sturgeon comfortably remains the most popular leader in Scotland but potential pitfalls remain as the poll found that she is not trusted to spend public money wisely.

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Nicola Sturgeon with her husband Peter Murrell, the SNP's chief executive, after being sworn in at the Court of Session for the first time as Scotland's First Minister on November 20, 2014.  Photo PA.

It found that Scots were sceptical about how their taxes are spent amid a series of expensive decisions to nationalise a shipyard, airport and rail operator.

Among the costly ventures, critics point to £37 million of state investment lost on the manufacturing firm Burntisland Fabrications, which went into administration; the £43 million in taxpayer-funded loans handed to Prestwick airport since it was taken into public ownership; and the nationalised Ferguson Marine shipyard, where a state ferry contract is running five years behind schedule and tens of millions of pounds over budget.

Last month the ScotRail train franchise was taken into public ownership but is now operating on a hugely reduced timetable brought in this week amid a pay dispute.

Research by YouGov found 48 per cent of people do not trust her to make the right decisions on spending taxpayers’ money, while 41 per cent do have faith in her judgment.

An overwhelming majority were also opposed to her timetable to hold a second referendum next year.

Fifty-nine per cent of people said there should not be another vote before the end of 2023, compared with 28 per cent who backed a return to the constitutional question. SNP voters were more supportive of Sturgeon’s schedule, with 62 per cent in favour, but 26 per cent of the party’s supporters said they opposed their leader’s plan. 

In a repeat of multiple polls, people were slightly in favour of there being a referendum in the next five years but that margin has shrunk, with 42 per cent of people backing such a timescale, a fall of four points, and 41 per cent opposed, which was unchanged.

Fifty-five per cent of people said Sturgeon had spent too much time on the issue of Scottish independence, while 10 per cent said she had not pushed the issue hard enough and 24 per cent said the balance was about right.

Very few thought her crowning achievement in office so far was furthering the cause of independence, with just 4 per cent of people choosing that option. Her handling of the pandemic was seen as her biggest achievement, backed by 38 per cent of people.

Professor Sir John Curtice, the polling expert from Strathclyde University, said Ms Sturgeon should be wary that many of her supporters see her as being too tentative when it comes to a second independence referendum.

“Caution was arguably a key feature of Ms Sturgeon’s handling of the pandemic,” he said. “But at the same time, undue caution is an accusation that has been levelled against her by the more impatient supporters of independence.

“But if her handling of the pandemic is not to prove the one and only achievement for which her time as first minister is remembered after she vacates Bute House, she will soon need to strike out and try to persuade her fellow Scots of the merits of the vision that brought her into politics — a vision for which there is seemingly still not majority support.”

Confidence is low in the SNP’s ability to make the right decisions on public services too, with negative ratings across the board.

Despite this, 48 per cent of people thought that Ms Sturgeon had been a good leader, compared with 32 per cent who thought she had been poor.

YouGov interviewed 1,115 adults aged 16 and over in Scotland between May 18 and 23.