This is a report in the ACM series, Opinion Polls, which visitors can always access through this icon on the right hand side of the frontpage.
Support for the monarchy has surged in Scotland.
In addition, the Scottish National party has now indicated that it would wish the Queen to continue to reign over an independent Scotland, according to Nicholas Christian writing in The Scotsman on 3 April 2001.
A YouGov poll shows that the proportion of Scots with republican sympathies has fallen significantly from 33% in 2005 to 24%.
The question asked was whether the monarchy should end when the Queen relinquishes the throne.
…blow to republicans….
Both developments are a significant blow to the small United Kingdom republican movement. They are now committed to an immature spoiling operation. This is to push Prince William into succeeding before his father. This will not work, and is a transparently hypocritical attempt to upset the succession.
According to Nicholas Christian, the proportion of Scots who believe that Prince William should succeed is 34 per cent, and those in favour of a conventional succession to Prince Charles is 35 per cent.
{mosimage}
…SNP now monarchists…
(Continued below) According to The Scotsman, the poll has delighted Scottish monarchists and has been welcomed by the Scottish National party which does contain some prominent Republican politician is.
Nevertheless the spokesman for the SNP was quite clear:
"The Queen and her successors as our shared head of state is an important part of the social union we envisage between an independent Scotland and England, and these are very positive figures in that regard."
Murdo Fraser, the Scottish Tory deputy leader who led the move to hang an official portrait of The Queen at Holyrood, said:
"These findings clearly show the majority of Scots recognise the benefits of having the monarchy. Her Majesty the Queen is highly regarded across Scotland and this section is clearly represented in the polling figures.” The poll reflects similar trends in Australia. The republican movements in the Realms work close together, and these developments will be a serious psychological blow to the movements in Australia New Zealand and Canada