Tag: new polling

New polling confirms that Scots are united together for dignity and choice

Support for law change on assisted dying in every constituency in Scotland

New constituency-level polling showing consistent, high levels of support for assisted dying published as dying people call on MSPs to make history and give terminally ill Scots the compassion, choice and safety they need, as they form a monument to dignity and choice.

Behind every dying person is a nation believing in choice. Ahead of the upcoming vote on the Assisted Dying for Terminally Ill Adults (Scotland) Bill, MRP analysis of new polling confirms that every constituency and region in the country supports assisted dying, with support soaring to 80% in Moray and Argyll and Bute, and 87% in Banffshire and Buchan Coast. 

The polling also shows strong support for law change in all five party leaders’ constituencies, including 77% support in John Swinney’s constituency of Perthshire North, 72% in Glasgow, Anas Sarwar’s region, 70% in Green co-leader Ross Greer and Conservative leader Russell Findlay’s region of West Scotland and 69% in Green co-leader Gillian Mackay’s region of Central Scotland.

This news comes as three terminally ill Scottish women will today stand on plinths erected outside the Scottish Parliament to form living statues to honour the people the current blanket ban on assisted dying affects most, and show them standing together, demonstrating that while we wait for MSPs’ final Stage 3 vote for the law to be set in stone, the will of the people in Scotland is unwavering.

This installation follows the historic Stage 1 vote on the assisted dying Bill in Holyrood last May, in which MSPs overwhelmingly voted to support the Bill’s principles. The Assisted Dying for Terminally Ill Adults (Scotland) Bill would make the choice of assisted dying legal for terminally ill, mentally competent adults, alongside excellent end-of-life care.

Lorna Weir, Tish McEwan, and Lisa Fleming will be forming the installation and are each living with a terminal diagnosis: 

Lisa Fleming, 42, is living with secondary, incurable breast cancer, and founded Edinburgh’s beloved House of Hope, a community-based support and wellbeing centre for women with the same disease. She said: “I fight every day of my life to live for longer. And today I’m standing before Parliament asking MSPs to grant people like me the right to choose when and how we decide that enough is enough, right at the end of our lives.

“There’s not a day that goes by without me thinking about dying, and it scares me. But it shouldn’t have to. My cancer has spread to every bone in my body. I know what pain is. If I knew I had the choice of an assisted death at the end, I could live the rest of my life without that fear.”

Tish McEwan, a 73-year old grandmother from Glenrothes was diagnosed with IPF, Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis, having spent much of her professional life as a traffic warden. She said: “I was diagnosed with IPF in 2021 and I became part of this whole new community of people going through terminal lung disease.

“Through them, I have seen what it can mean to die from this cruel condition, even with the best possible care, feeling like you’re suffocating, gasping for breath.

“The assisted dying bill is about dying well – but it’s also about living a full end of life; living well for as long as I can, knowing that at the end I’ll be able to make the choice that is right for me.

“That’s why I’m here today with other amazing campaigners to stand together for dignity and choice. I hope MSPs heed the calls from the terminally ill people they represent, and vote yes later this month.”

Lorna Weir, a 67-year-old grandmother from Dundee, is supporting the assisted dying Bill following her diagnosis with Pulmonary Fibrosis and lifelong commitment to tackling social injustice, especially in health. She said: “When you get a diagnosis like mine, there is a period of adjustment while you learn to live a new sort of life.

“My symptoms are currently manageable with oxygen and strong medications – ultimately, Pulmonary Fibrosis is a progressive disease. There will come a time, however, when my symptoms cannot be controlled and will likely be the cause of my death.

“I believe so strongly that what we leave behind when we die is memories. I want my family and friends to remember who I am now, and as I move forward in this new way of living, I do my best to make happy memories with them.

“I don’t want good memories tarnished with who I could become if I’m forced to suffer at the end without choice.”

Ally Thomson, Director of Dignity in Dying Scotland, said: “Today we are honouring the lived experience of those who are watching the progress of the assisted dying Bill in the hope that, if it becomes law, they might be spared agonising fear and suffering as they consider the end of their lives.

“MSPs have a choice before them – to provide a safe, compassionate choice to dying people in their final days and weeks, or to double down on a status quo that leaves dying people in an impossible position – choosing between suffering against their wishes, scraping the money together to travel abroad for an assisted death, or taking matters into their own hands at home. 

“This Bill was first introduced in 2021, and since then it has received public consultation, expert advice and robust parliamentary scrutiny, throughout which it has enjoyed overwhelming public support. Dying Scots felt such hope when MSPs decisively supported it at its Stage 1 vote last May.

“They are now asking that MSPs act for them now and deliver this historic reform for dying people later this month.” 

Opinium conducted MRP analysis of Scottish Parliament boundaries based on a sample of 5,000 adults aged 18 and over in Scotland. Fieldwork was conducted between 30 January and 19 February 2026.

The sample was designed to be politically and nationally representative of the adult population. Results were weighted to reflect the demographic profile of Scotland’s adult population. Multilevel Regression and Post-stratification (MRP) was used to estimate public opinion at the constituency level. 

Full data available: https://www.opinium.com/resource-center/dignity-in-dying-scotland-mrp/

TUC: ‘Huge support’ for Government’s plan to make work pay

The landmark Employment Rights Bill is ‘vote winner’

Voters in every constituency overwhelmingly support key measures to strengthen workers’ rights, according to new polling published by the TUC and Hope Not Hate today.

In recent months, there has been criticism of the Bill from Conservative and Reform politicians and parts of the business lobby.

But this polling decisively proves that those opponents are a world away from the views of the British public.

The public wants stronger worker protections

The poll of over 21,000 people reveals huge backing across the country and across the political spectrum –  including with Reform and Conservative voters – for key policies in the Bill. The poll shows:  

  • Banning zero hours contracts by giving workers a contract that reflects their regular hours: More than 7 in 10 (72%) of UK voters support a ban on zero hours contracts – including 2 in 3 Reform (65%) and Conservative (63%) voters from the 2024 general election support banning zero hours contracts. The figure is even higher with those saying they would vote Conservative (65%) and Reform (67%) if there was a general election held tomorrow. Just 15% oppose the policy.  
  • Giving all workers statutory sick pay from day one: 3 in 4 (74%) voters support giving all workers the right to statutory sick pay, and ensuring it is paid from the first day – including 2 in 3 Reform (64%) and Conservative (62%) voters from the 2024 general election. The figure is even higher with those saying they would vote Conservative (65%) and Reform (66%) if there was a general election held tomorrow. Just 14 % oppose the policy.
  • Giving all workers protection from unfair dismissal from day one: 3 in 4 (73%) voters support giving all workers protection from unfair dismissal from the first day in the job – including 2 in 3 Reform (62%) and Conservative (62%) voters from the 2024 general election. The figure is even higher with those saying they would vote Conservative (65%) and Reform (64%) if there was a general election held tomorrow. Just 14% oppose the policy.  
  • Making it easier for people to have flexibility in their patterns or hours of work: 3 in 4 (74%) voters support making it easier to work flexibly – including 2 in 3 Reform (63%) and Conservative (64%) voters from the 2024 general election. The figure is even higher with those saying they would vote Conservative (67%) and Reform (65%) if there was a general election held tomorrow. Just 12% oppose the policy. 

Break down by constituency level 

The poll breaks down to constituency level – and reveals that voters in every single constituency are behind the Bill’s flagship policies.

Click on the interactive map below to see how each constituency voted. Use the search field to find your constituency, and the drop-down menu at the top to view data for each policy.

https://flo.uri.sh/visualisation/21515919/embed?auto=1

A Flourish map

Reform is defying its own voters on workers’ rights

Interestingly, the new poll shows the measures the government is taking through Parliament are hugely popular with Reform voters from 2024 as well as Reform-leaning voters (those who would vote Reform if there was an election tomorrow).

In every Reform-held constituency, including in Reform leader Nigel Farage’s seat, there is significant support for banning zero hours contracts and giving sick pay to everyone from day one.  

And yet Reform MPs have voted against the Bill at every stage. The party are defying their own voters and constituents on workers’ rights. This proves beyond doubt that Nigel Farage and Reform aren’t on the side of working people – they’re on the side of bad bosses, zero hours contracts and fire and rehire.

Labour, Conservative, Green and Lib Dem voters also significantly back the policies. It’s clear that the Employment Rights Bill is that rare thing –  a policy which is genuinely popular across traditional party lines.

Time for change

After the failed Conservative era of a low-rights, low-pay, and low-growth economy, voters can see the importance of making work pay and ending the scourge of insecure work.

That’s why the government must ignore the noise and deliver the Employment Rights Bill in full.  

Improving job quality and putting more money into people’s pockets is an urgent national mission and a key plank of the government’s wider plan to grow the economy. Those who defend the broken status quo are simply putting their own vested interests above working people.

Voters across the political spectrum want work to pay and to feel secure and respected in their jobs. The government has a historic opportunity – and an electoral mandate – to make work pay. The plan to make work pay is hugely popular, and this poll should give ministers the confidence to deliver it in full.