A decisive majority of the Scottish public recognise that there is a mandate for Scotland to have a referendum.
Evidence from the 2021 Scottish Election Study addresses the question of whether the Scottish public thinks that the Government has a mandate to pursue a second independence referendum.
The data shows 61% of Scots think the Scottish Government has an IndyRef2 mandate.
Right across the board, and every question asked, the study found that following the 2021 election, a majority of people in Scotland believed there was a mandate for a second referendum.
This data leaves unionist politicians increasingly isolated in their attempted denial of Holyrood’s mandate to hold an independence referendum – following STUC General Secretary Roz Foyer this week also acknowledging the electoral mandate for the Scottish Government to conduct a debate over a second referendum.
Commenting, SNP MSP Michelle Thomson said:
“The Scottish Government has a cast-iron mandate to hold an independence referendum – and this authoritative survey shows that, by a decisive margin, the majority of Scots agree.
“This mandate was given little more than a year ago by the people of Scotland when they returned a majority of MSPs supporting a referendum – with more pro-independence MSPs than in 2011.
“Westminster politicians cannot brazenly deny the democratic mandate given to the Scottish Government in 2021 – and their morally and politically bankrupt stance is not tenable.
“It is for people, not politicians, to decide if there should be an independence referendum – and people across Scotland, unsurprisingly, recognise the mandate for IndyRef2 that last year’s elections delivered.
“The people of Scotland will have a choice of voting for a better future – the SNP will make sure of that – so it is time for the Westminster parties to stop denying the indisputable democratic mandate that exists and start engaging in the substance of this debate.”
