Support for monarchy in Scotland drops to 45%, poll shows

Survey suggests Scots are more interested in World Cup than Queen’s Platinum Jubilee

The Queen inspecting the Balaklava Company, a Scottish military division, at Balmoral in August (Getty)

The royal family has work to do to appeal to people in Scotland, those who are young and of ethnic minority communities, according to a new poll.

Six in 10 people (58 per cent) in Britain would like to keep the monarchy for the foreseeable future, while a quarter believe the end of the Queen’s reign would be the right time for the country to become a republic, the survey suggested.

Nevertheless 85 per cent expect there will still be a monarchy in a decade’s time.

However, in Scotland specifically, support for a head of state is noticeably lower with only 45 per cent wanting to retain the monarchy while 36 per cent believing the Queen’s reign should mark the end of it.

Approval also appeared to dwindle throughout the younger generation and ethnic minority communities.

Young people are seemingly ambivalent about the monarch with four in 10 (40 per cent) wanting to see it continue in the future, while 37 per cent wanted to see it end following the Queen’s reign.

Some 36 per cent of those aged between 16 and 18 specifically, agree the monarch should be kept in contrast to 27 per cent who said they would like to see a republic.

Among minority groups only 37 per cent support its continuation while 33 per cent would also like the monarch to end following the Queen.

The monarchy’s appeal could be broadened if they played an active role in trying to bridge the divides across the country, with 52 per cent of the public - and almost half (47 per cent) of those from ethnic minorities – believing it could do so.

One of the challenges highlighted in the report was the divide in attitudes of symbols of national identity, such as the union flag.

(PA)

While most (72 per cent) of those asked associated it with the monarchy, Team GB (71 per cent) and the armed forces (68 per cent), a quarter (25 per cent) associate it with racism and extremism – marking an increase of 10 points since 2012.

The findings came from a poll by the British Future think tank which explored the public’s attitude ahead of the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee, in the 10 years since the last milestone celebration.

Over this time, the country has experienced three general elections, two referendums, its withdrawal from the European Union and the Covid pandemic.

The Queen’s Jubilee in June will see four days’ worth of public events, festivities and street parties take place across the country to mark the celebration.

However, when asked about the milestone, only 48 per cent of people in Scotland said it was of interest to them with 49 per cent dismissing it.

In fact, more people (52 per cent) reported being more excited about the World Cup in December. This is in contrast to two-thirds of those in England and 73 per cent of people in Wales who claimed to be interested in the Queen’s achievement.