Half of Labour & a quarter of SNP supporters back Devo Plus
IpsosMORI polling shows:
- In a choice between Devo Plus, Independence and Status Quo, 52% of Labour voters think Scotland should remain in the UK under Devo Plus as their preferred option; 28% of SNP voters believe the same
- 10% of SNP voters and 24% of Labour would be more likely to vote ‘no’ if it would lead to Devo Plus
- Almost three-quarters of Labour voters want Unionists to campaign for more powers for the Scottish Parliament
Reform Scotland, the independent, non-party think-tank behind the Devolution Plus proposal, has released more detail from the IpsosMORI poll it published last week. The poll, which showed Devo Plus to be the clear choice on the way forward for Scotland, has been broken down by political party and shows the positive attitude amongst Labour and SNP voters towards Devo Plus.
Remarkably, over a quarter of SNP voters believe that Scotland should remain in the UK under Devo Plus, with over half of Labour voters supporting this as their preferred option out of three. In addition, almost three-quarters of Labour voters want the Unionist campaign to promote the case of more powers for the Scottish Parliament as an alternative to independence.
Commenting, Reform Scotland’s Chairman Ben Thomson said:
“This polling reveals starkly the emerging consensus amongst all sides of the political divide. Last week’s poll showed that Devo Plus was by some margin the most popular way forward for Scotland, and this break-down shows that its popularity transcends political boundaries.
“I am confident that this new information will be considered carefully by both Yes Scotland and Better Together. At present, neither of those campaigns is promoting the way forward which is most favoured by the people of Scotland.
“Devo Plus is a solution around which all of Scotland’s political parties can coalesce.”
Jeremy Purvis, Leader of the Devo Plus group, added:
“The fact that only just over 60% of SNP voters support independence and also the vast majority of Labour party voters want the non-independence parties to work together for Devo Plus is highly significant.
“It shows that most ordinary people across Scotland are less interested in the contortions over the issue of the ballot paper but are wanting parties to work together on how to deliver a stronger Scottish Parliament within the UK.
“The Devo Plus proposal is a carefully considered and fully worked up plan on how to deliver this. It’s fairly clear now it’s the most popular way forward also.”
NOTES TO EDITORS
- Ipsos MORI polled 1003 people between 7 and 14 June 2012. Full results/tables can be downloaded by clicking on the link on the right hand side of this webpage.
| Thinking about Scotland’s constitutional future, which of the following statements most closely matches your views on this issue? | |||||
| Conservative | Labour | Lib Dem | SNP | Other | |
| Scotland should remain part of the UK with the same devolved powers it has at present | 66% | 37% | 40% | 6% | 31% |
| Scotland should remain part of the UK with the increased powers outlined in the Devo Plus proposal | 30% | 52% | 53% | 28% | 50% |
| Scotland should become a fully independent country, separate from the rest of the UK | 1% | 7% | 3% | 63% | 17% |
| Some other view | 2% | 4% | 3% | 3% | 2% |
| To what extent do you agree or disagree that those who want to stay in the UK should campaign for more powers for the Scottish Parliament within the UK as an alternative to independence? | |||||
| Conservative | Labour | Lib Dem | SNP | Other | |
| Strongly agree | 20% | 27% | 35% | 34% | 33% |
| Tend to agree | 39% | 46% | 39% | 30% | 34% |
| Neither agree nor disagree | 10% | 11% | 9% | 12% | 19% |
| Tend to disagree | 17% | 7% | 7% | 8% | 1% |
| Strongly disagree | 13% | 6% | 8% | 10% | 9% |
| Don’t know | 2% | 3% | 2% | 5% | 3% |
| Combinations | |||||
| Agree | 58% | 73% | 74% | 64% | 67% |
| Disagree | 30% | 12% | 15% | 19% | 10% |
| If those who want to stay in the UK made it clear before the referendum that voting no to independence meant that Scotland would still get Devo Plus, would it? | |||||
| Conservative | Labour | Lib Dem | SNP | Other | |
| Make you more likely to vote no to independence | 30% | 24% | 17% | 10% | 23% |
| Make you more likely to vote yes to independence | 6% | 8% | 4% | 21% | 9% |
| Make no difference to the way you would vote | 62% | 63% | 71% | 68% | 66% |
| Don’t know | 3% | 5% | 8% | 2% | 2% |
- Reform Scotland is an independent, non-party think tank that aims to set out a better way to deliver increased economic prosperity and more effective public services based on the traditional Scottish principles of limited government, diversity and personal responsibility.