Claim 37 per cent of Scots want to abolish Holyrood is Unsupported

The future of Holyrood was called into question this week, after claims that more than a third of Scots wanted to abolish the devolved parliament.

Numerous social media accounts and media outlets reported that a poll had found 37 per cent of Scots were in favour of scrapping the Scottish Parliament. This claim was also promoted by on X, via the Grok AI chatbot.

37 per cent of Scots support abolishing Holyrood.

Social media posts

Ferret Fact Service looked at this claim and found it Unsupported.

Evidence

There are a number of groups and political parties which have campaigned for the abolition of the Scottish Parliament, arguing that the devolved parliament costs too much money and focuses on policies which do not help the people of Scotland.

The Abolish the Scottish Parliament Party stood candidates on the regional list in the 2021 Holyrood election. It gained 7,262 votes, amounting to 0.3 per cent of the vote share. UKIP also made ending the devolved parliament part of its campaign in 2021 and gained 3,848 votes on the regional list and 699 in constituencies.

The claim recently promoted on social media that more than one-third, 37 per cent, of Scots want to scrap the parliament comes from a Norstat (formerly Panelbase) poll which was published in June, with the polling done in late May. It was commissioned by pro-independence blogger Wings Over Scotland.

However, the question asked was not a straight choice between keeping the Scottish Parliament in its current form or abolishing it.

Instead, the poll asked respondents about a hypothetical choice in a referendum between Scottish independence or a return to being ruled by Westminster only.

The poll’s exact wording was: “If there were to be a second independence referendum tomorrow and the ONLY options on the ballot paper were full independence or the permanent closure of the Scottish Parliament at Holyrood and a return to direct Westminster rule, how do you think you would vote?”

According to Wings Over Scotland, the response –which did not include ‘don’t knows’ – was 37 per cent in favour of a return to Westminster direct rule and 63 per cent choosing full Scottish independence.

This is not a standard polling question, and is unlikely to form the basis of a future referendum. The form of the question may not give an accurate picture of the position of most Scots on the Scottish Parliament, as the question did not allow those surveyed to keep the status quo.

There have been several other polls in recent years which have asked related questions. A survey for the Sunday Times in January 2024 found 26 per cent of Scots thought that devolution had been a bad thing for Scotland, while 50 per cent thought it had been good.

Another poll for Holyrood Sources podcast, from March 2024, found 26 per cent of those surveyed agreed that “devolution was a mistake 25 years ago and should not have happened”.

Ferret Fact Service verdict: Unsupported

The claim that 37 per cent of Scots want to abolish Holyrood is not supported. The poll on which the statistic is based asked whether those surveyed would like full Scottish independence or to abolish the Scottish Parliament and go back to direct rule from Westminster. No status quo option was available. Recent polls asking about devolution’s impact on Scotland have shown around a quarter saying it was a bad idea.

Unsupported – A claim that is not backed up by solid evidence and cannot conclusively be judged true or false.

Main image: iStock/MartinIsaac