Poll shows Scotland Wants Voice in Debates
Televised Debates: Poll Shows People Want Scotland to Have a Voice in Upcoming Leaders’ Debates
2010-01-17
A YouGov poll commissioned by the Scottish National Party shows that the vast majority of Scots disagree with the London-based broadcasters excluding the SNP from televised leaders’ debates.
The exclusion of the SNP from three proposed leaders’ debates by the BBC, ITN and Sky will leave Scotland and Scottish issues unrepresented – while opposition parties debate issues that will have no impact on Scots voters.
The poll of 1,013 Scottish adults on the 12th and 13th January asked voters if they agreed or disagreed with the following statement: “The televised leaders’ debates due to take place in advance of the election should NOT include the leader of the Scottish National Party.”
* 59% of respondents disagreed with excluding the leader of the SNP, endorsing the argument that excluding the SNP from debates that are broadcast in Scotland is unfair to Scottish voters. Only 31% agreed – a majority of some two-to-one.
* The poll also found that 62% of Scots believe that the SNP should get the same level of TV coverage as the London-based parties (another 9% think the SNP should get more coverage).
* Finally, the poll shows that the SNP have regained a lead over Labour for Scottish Parliament voting intentions – with higher support than when we won the election in 2007. Only the constituency question was asked in this poll, showing a 3-point lead over Labour at 35% to 32%. The last YouGovpoll – for the Daily Telegraph in November 2009 – gave Labour a one-point lead over the SNP (Labour 33% to SNP 32%).
Read the full story http://www.snp.org/node/16127