Support for independence as well as for the SNP at Holyrood and Westminster has dropped, according to a new poll.
The YouGov survey of 1,088 Scottish voters for the Sunday Times shows support for independence fell from 53 per cent to 47% among decided voters.
Among those decided voters, those who said they would vote against independence in another referendum rose from 47% to 53%.
Meanwhile, support for the SNP dropped from 50% to 44% in the Holyrood constituency vote and from 40% to 36% in the regional list.
The latest results were compared to previous responses to the same poll in December.
SNP support at Westminster experienced a marginal drop from 43% to 42%.
Read about the most recent polls:
- Latest independence poll puts support for Yes on 54 per cent
- Poll: Spike in support of independence has 'proven to be temporary'
The fieldwork for the poll was carried out as a row was emerging over the imprisonment of rapist Isla Bryson between January 23 and 26.
The transgender woman, who was convicted of two cases of rape carried out before transitioning, was initially remanded in Scotland's only all-female prison in Cornton Vale.
Bryson was later relocated to the male estate following a public outcry.
Professor John Curtice, of Strathclyde University, told the Sunday Times: “While the decline in support for independence is likely to be part of the explanation, it looks as though the battering the Scottish Government has suffered, especially on the issue of transgender prisoners, may also have taken its toll on SNP support.”
The saga led to Scottish Justice Secretary Keith Brown pausing the movement of transgender prisoners into women’s jails if they have a history of violence.
The survey also showed a fall in the First Minister's popularity.
Scots who viewed Nicola Sturgeon as somewhat or very favourable fell from 50% to 44%.
Overall, her approval rating fell into the negative from +7 in October to -4 in the most recent poll.
Despite the drop, she remains by far the most popular political leader.
Keith Brown, deputy leader of the SNP, told the newspaper: “While we take nothing for granted, this poll suggests that the SNP remains by far the most popular party in Scotland, and Nicola Sturgeon is by far the most popular leader.
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