SNP in freefall: Support for Scottish independence dramatically COLLAPSES following Sturgeon's resignation
Support for Scottish independence has dramatically dropped
PA
Support for Scottish independence has contined to drop dramatically following Nicola Sturgeon’s resignation, according to a new poll.
A total of 46 per cent back the exit from the UK compared to 54 per cent who want to remain part of the union.
And support is even lower when those who answered “don’t know” are included in the statistics, making the figures just 39 per cent in favour of independence and 47 per cent against.
Compared to last month, support has dropped from 50 per cent.
Most of those surveyed thought the leadership candidates would be worse at the top job than the outgoing Nicola Sturgeon
PA
The survey by YouGov also revealed that regardless of their view on independence 52 per cent of the public believed Scotland would still be part of the UK in 10 years' time.
The poll was almost evenly split on the performance of the Scottish Government with 44 per cent thinking they were doing a good job and 46 per cent suggesting its performance was bad.
There seemed to be an agreement that where the SNP had underperformed was in its handling of the NHS with 62 per cent saying it was doing badly on health.
It comes as voting opens for SNP members to choose a replacement for Nicola Sturgeon at the top of the party.
A leadership debate is set to take place at 7pm tonight where the three candidates Humza Yousaf, Kate Forbes and Ash Regan will face questions in Edinburgh.
The poll – of 1,002 people - revealed that finance secretary Forbes is the most popular with 27 per cent agreeing that she would be a good first minister.
A total of 22 per cent said health secretary Yousaf would be the best for the job, while 14 per cent though positively of ex-minister Regan.
Most people thought that the three candidates would be worse than Sturgeon.
The results showed that 17 per cent think Forbes would do better, eight per cent said Reagan would be an improvement and six per cent thinking Yousaf would be an upgrade.
Yousaf had the highest figures for the negative traits, with 39 per cent saying he would be a weak leader, 40 per cent suggesting he would be incompetent and 42 per cent saying he was untrustworthy.
Regan appeared to be the least known candidate, with around 60 per cent of respondents answering "don't know" when asked the same questions about her.
The winner of the competition will be announced on March 27.