Wings Over Scotland

An archive of the opinion polls we’ve commissioned from Panelbase.

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POLL 1 (August 2013)

Full data tables

Topics covered (analysis links in brackets):

• which powers SHOULD be devolved to Scotland? (1)
• which powers WILL be devolved to Scotland? (1)
• if Scotland was independent now, would you vote for Union? (1)
• which politicians are most truthful on independence (2), (7)
• opinion of “Better Together” campaign (2)
• opinions on media coverage (3), (8)
• does your preferred party share your view on independence? (4)
• does your Holyrood 2016 vote depend on the referendum outcome? (4)
• which of these things represents a threat to Scotland? (5), (6)
• which of these things does Trident protect Scotland against? (5), (6)

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POLL 1B (August 2013)

Full data tables

Topics covered:

• should the UK have four “national” sports teams? (1)

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POLL 2 (October 2013)

Full data tables

Topics covered:

• should Scotland be an independent country? (1)
• nuclear weapons (2)
• the monarchy (2)
• the bedroom tax (2)
• membership of the EU (2)
• voting rights for prisoners (2)
• assisted suicide (2)
• nationalisation of the railways (2)
• decriminalising recreational drugs (2)
• fracking (2)
• “page 3” pictures in newspapers (2)
• the death penalty (3)
• membership of NATO (3)
• the council tax freeze (3)
• privatising the Royal Mail (3)
• a written constitution (3)
• building new nuclear power stations (3)
• making the unemployed work for benefits (3)
• minimum pricing for alcohol (3)
• gender quotas for MSPs (3)
• anti-sectarianism football laws/OBFA (3)
• who would be the best leader for the No campaign? (4)
• which people/organisations are acting in the best interests of Scotland? (4)
• reasons for vote choice in independence referendum (5)
• personal constitutional preference in an ideal world (5)
• indyref vote if the Barnett Formula were to be abolished (5)
• indyref vote if the UK were to leave the EU (5)
• have your views on independence changed since the campaigns started? (6)
• which media outlets do you use? (6)
• would the Scottish people make an independent Scotland a success? (6)

Other analysis: (7), (8), (9)

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POLL 3 (April 2014)

Full data tables

Topics covered:

• should Scotland be an independent country? (1)
• which information source do you trust most on independence? (2)
• how actively are you seeking information about independence? (3)
• if undecided, are you leaning either way? (4)
• opinions on Labour devolution proposals (5)
• who do you think will be Prime Minister after the 2015 UK election? (6)
• will austerity continue, worsen or ease during the 2015-20 UK Parliament? (6)
• will there be an EU referendum during the 2015-20 UK Parliament? (6)
• how will Scotland be treated by the UK if it votes No? (6)
• what if the referendum ballot paper was two flags? (7)
• should working people need benefits for a liveable income? (8)
• should Scotland invest in renewable energy for long-term gains? (8)
• should Scotland refuse a share of UK debt if there’s no currency union? (8)
• should private schools continue to be treated as charities? (8)
• are there enough jobs for everyone if people look hard enough? (8)
• should the top rate of tax be higher than 45? (8)
• should the top rate of tax be higher than 50%? (8)

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POLL 4 (May 2014)

Full data tables

Topics covered:

• which areas of government are devolved to Holyrood? (1)
• have you changed your mind about independence in the last 18 months? (1)
• which football team do you support? (1)
• what currency would an independent Scotland use? (2)
• will Scotland be independent in the next 10 years? (2)
• will there be an EU referendum in the next 10 years? (2)
• will the UK leave the EU in the next 10 years? (2)
• will the English/Scottish NHS be privatised in the next 10 years? (2)
• will Boris Johnson become Prime Minister in the next 10 years? (2)
• will free university tuition be abolished in Scotland in the next 10 years? (2)
• will UKIP have more MPs than the Lib Dems in the next 10 years? (2)
• will tax and welfare be devolved to Holyrood in the next 10 years? (2)
• will your standard of living increase significantly in the next 10 years? (2)
• will UK armed forces be involved in another war in the next 10 years? (2)
• will there be a Labour First Minister in the next 10 years? (2)

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POLL 5 (November 2014)

Full data tables

• voting intentions (1)
• how would you vote in a second independence referendum? (1)
• EU referendum voting intentions (2)
• would a Scotland/England split on the EU justify a second indyref? (2)
• who should be the next Scottish Labour leader? (3)
• should Scottish party leaders always be MSPs rather than MPs? (4)
• should the Smith Commission proposals be subject to a referendum? (4)
• should Scottish MPs have a veto on UK legislation affecting Scotland? (4)
• should Holyrood have the power to hold referendums? (4)

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POLL 6 (January 2015)

*double poll, with full-size samples from Scotland and the rest of the UK

Full data tables

Topics covered:

• should the voting age be lowered to 16? (1)
• should non-threatening offensive comments on social media be prosecuted? (2)
• should people illegally downloading movies etc be imprisoned? (3)
• should the death penalty be brought back? (3)
• should the security services be able to monitor everyone’s communications? (3)
• should convicted rapist Ched Evans be able to resume his football career? (3)
• should the minimum wage be raised to the living wage? (4)
• should the NHS only be for those who can’t afford to pay? (4)
• should we build more nuclear power stations? (4)
• should we build more windfarms? (4)
• would you mind there being a windfarm in sight of your home? (4)
• would you mind there being a nuclear power station within 20 miles? (4)
• should energy companies be nationalised? (4)
• should the railways be renationalised? (4)
• should the UK electoral system be changed to proportional representation? (4)
• should private schools continue to be treated as charities for tax purposes? (4)
• should the UK continue to have nuclear weapons? (5)
• should defence spending be cut in favour of welfare spending? (5)
• is there too much immigration? (5)
• are immigrants treated as scapegoats for the country’s problems? (5)
• does cutting benefits help the economy? (5)
• should the unemployed have to work for benefits? (5)
• should Britain keep the monarchy? (5)
• is the BBC balanced and unbiased? (6)
• does England subsidise the rest of the UK? (6)
• should the UK leave the EU? (6)
• do pensioners get preferential treatment from governments?
• should there be “English votes for English laws”?
• should council tenants have the right to buy their house?
• should voting be compulsory?

Other analysis: (7)

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POLL 7 (May 2015)

Full data tables

Topics covered:

• voting intention (1)
• how would you have voted had the Smith powers been on the indyref ballot? (1)
• is there a difference in UK attitudes towards Scotland since the referendum? (2)
• which football club do you support? (3)
• do you back the Offensive Behaviour (Football) Act (OBFA)? (3)
• do you back the ban on alcohol at football matches? (3)
• would you prefer a majority Labour UK government or coalition with the SNP? (3)
• do you support Full Fiscal Autonomy (FFA) for Scotland? (3)
• would you pay for the BBC if it was a subscription service? (4)
• is the current “Rangers” a new club? (4)
• do you back consensual stop-and-search for under-12s? (5)
• do you back the “Named Person” legislation for child welfare? (5)
• are female politicians better than male ones? (5)
• should social-housing tenants have the right to buy at a discount? (5)
• who controls Scottish Labour policy – the Scottish leader or the UK one?

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POLL 8 (July 2015)

Full data tables

Topics covered:

• which websites do you visit regularly for political content? (1)
• how did you react to Labour ruling out an electoral deal with the SNP? (2)
• should Alistair Carmichael resign? (3)
• should the Scottish Government raise or lower taxes? (4), (7)
• can any of the Labour leadership candidates win in 2020? (5)
• which unions (UK and/or EU) should Scotland be in? (6), (8)
• does the Scotland Bill live up to the pre-referendum promises? (9)
• should Scottish Labour become an autonomous party? (10)
• have you been subjected to abuse over your political views? (11)

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POLL 9 (November 2015)

Full data tables

Topics covered:

• how would you vote in a second independence referendum? (1)
• do you understand Labour’s position on Trident? (2)
• which politics TV and radio shows do you watch/listen to? (3)
• should the House Of Lords be abolished? (4)
• how should the SNP and Labour treat the House Of Lords? (4)
• should Michelle Mone have been made a peer? (4)
• would you EVER vote for independence? (5)
• should the Scottish Government raise taxes to mitigate benefit cuts? (6)
• if it should make cuts elsewhere instead, which departments should be cut? (6)
• which level of government impacts most directly on your life? (6)
• how likely is it that Labour will win the 2020 election? (7)
• is the current regulation of the press adequate?

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POLL 10 (January 2016)

Full data tables

Topics covered:

• views on various types of energy sources (1)

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POLL 11 (February 2017)

Full data tables

Topics covered:

• council election voting intentions (1)
• should Scotland be an independent country? (2)
• constitutional preference on independence and the EU (2)
• which elections could Labour win? (2)
• independence support by football allegiance (3)
• who was the best-ever First Minister? (4)
• when should there be a second independence referendum? (5)
• what should be Scotland’s national anthem? (6)
• are the other countries of the UK subsidised by England? (7)
• how many of the No campaign’s indyref promises were kept? (8)
• should the UK keep Trident, and if so where? (9), (10)
• is Scottish media’s political coverage balanced? (11)
• are gender (and other) quotas a good idea? (12)
• how important is the economy to your view of independence? (13)
• which media outlets are pro-/anti-independence? (14)
• is Theresa May or Nicola Sturgeon doing the better job? (14)
• which electoral system/s should Scotland use? (15)
• social attitudes: immigration, nationalisation, monarchy, hanging etc (16)
• should the Offensive Behaviour at Football Act (OBFA) be scrapped? (17)

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POLL 12 (December 2017)

Full data tables

Topics covered:

• would you vote for independence if it meant staying in the EU? (1)
• what’s the best Scottish movie of all time? (2)
• will Jeremy Corbyn ever be Prime Minister (3)
• when should the next UK general election be? (3)
• should there be a second EU referendum once the deal is known? (3)
• who will you support at the World Cup? (4)
• should the Scottish Government spend money supporting Gaelic? (5)
• young people’s voting intentions (6)
• who should decide about a second independence referendum? (7)
• is transgender self-ID a good idea? (8)
• is the sugar tax a good idea? (9)
• what’s the best outcome of a UK election for Scotland? (10)
• should Kezia Dugdale have gone on I’m A Celebrity? (11)
• should the Scottish Government raise taxes to fund public services? (12)
• how are Scottish public services performing against the rest of the UK? (13)
• why did you vote for the Conservatives/the SNP this year? (14)
• do you understand the difference between a hard and soft Brexit? (15)
• should Orange and/or political marches be banned? (16)

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POLL 13 (May 2018)

(English-born residents of England)

Full data tables

Topics covered:

• should corrections in newspapers be as big as the original lie? (1)
• would you sacrifice Scotland/NI/Gibraltar to ensure Brexit happens? (2), (11)
• which countries would you like England to join a union with? (3)
• would you like more federalism in the UK, or less? (4)
• who would you prefer to see as Prime Minister? (5)
• if Scotland was an independent EU country, would you move there? (6)
• is transgender self-ID a good idea? (7)
• what would you do about Trident if Scotland was independent? (8)
• should people be jailed for offensive but non-threatening tweets? (9)
• should countries bomb each other if they feel like it? (10)
  
• do you know who the current UKIP leader is? (11)

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POLL 14 (June 2018)

Full data tables

Topics covered:

• Holyrood/Westminster voting intentions (1)
• timing of a second independence referendum (2)
• should any other countries be run by their larger neighbour? (3)
• correlation between football club support and religion (4)
• views on devolved public services (5)
• positive and negative views of political media outlets (6)
• would you be prepared to rent Faslane to the rUK for Trident? (7)
• would you rather be more aligned with the US or the EU? (8)
• opinions about the Westminster “power grab” (9)
• which powers are, and which should be, devolved? (9)
• Yes and No voters’ attitudes to the EU (10)

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POLL 15 (March 2019)

Full data tables

Topics covered (analysis links in brackets):

• Holyrood voting intentions (1)
• recognition of Richard Leonard (2), (7)
• various transgender/women’s issues (3)
• do only Unionists like rugby? (4)
• independence and Brexit (5)
• “strict liability” and OBFA (6)
• Scotland’s relationship with the UK and the EU (8)
• what currency should an independent Scotland use? (9)

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POLL 16 (April 2019)

(Two full-sized samples, Scottish and English voters)

Full data tables

Topics covered (analysis links in brackets):

• what do you understand the words “gender” and “sex” to mean?
• should biological males be allowed to compete in women’s sports?
• can human beings ever actually change sex?
• should the Scottish football authorities introduce “strict liability”?
• was it a good idea to abolish the Offensive Behaviour (Football) Act?

We’re not too sure why we asked the strict-liability and OBFA questions again so soon, as they were only asked to the Scottish sample. Oddly, we don’t seem to have written about this poll at all, except for a passing mention of the OBFA numbers here, perhaps as all the results are basically identical to the March ones.

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POLL 17 (September 2019)

(SNP voters only)

Full data tables

Topics covered (analysis links in brackets):

• independence voting intention (1)
• what is the SNP’s goal regarding Brexit? (2)
• what SHOULD BE the SNP’s goal regarding Brexit? (2)
• will there be a second indyref before the 2021 Holyrood election? (3)
• should the SNP pass Brexit in return for permanent indyref powers? (3)
• would you prefer independence or the UK avoiding Brexit? (4)
• which parties have you voted for prior to voting SNP? (4)
• would you consider voting for a new pro-independence list party? (5)
• demographics of SNP voters (6)
• what should be the SNP’s strategy to secure a second referendum? (7)
• views on transgender/women’s issues (8)

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POLL 18 (October 2019)

(Double-sized sample, Scotland/England/Wales)

Full data tables

• which facts on a person’s birth certificate should be alterable? (1)
• should the four UK nations each have a veto on major issues like Brexit? (2)
• which is most important, Brexit or saving the Union? (3)
• should there be a new Brexit referendum? (3)
• which options should be offered in any new Brexit referendum? (3)
• would the result of a new Brexit referendum be respected by Parliament? (3)
• should children be separated at school on the basis of religion? (3)

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POLL 19 (April 2020)

Full data tables

• independence voting intention (1)
• was there a conspiracy to convict Alex Salmond? (2)
• various transgender/women’s issues (3)
• various political issues around coronavirus (4)
• what should be done about football and coronavirus? (5)
• would you sacrifice the SNP to secure independence? (6)
• support for Universal Basic Income (7)
• what circumstances should trigger a second independence referendum? (8)

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POLL 20 (June 2020)

Full data tables

• will the 2021 election trigger a second independence referendum? (1)
• which Parliament should decide about a second referendum, and why? (2)
• who should get to remain anonymous in sexual assault trials? (3)
• should public money be used to support newspapers? (4)

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POLL 21 (July 2020)

(Two full-sized samples, Scottish and English voters)

Full data tables

• should there be Scotland/England border controls to fight coronavirus? (1)
• will polling force the UK government to grant a second indyref? (2)
• have circumstances changed enough since 2014 to justify a new indyref? (2)
• would you vote for an Alex Salmond-led Holyrood list party? (3)
• views on transgender/women’s issues (English sample) (4)