If at First You Don’t Secede

A lot has happened since the 2014 Scottish independence referendum.

The Conservatives have been deposed at Westminster. Labour — the political force that once dominated Scottish politics — is back in power. Reform is eating into both parties' votes.

The SNP has been in government in Scotland for 18 years and is expected to win next year’s Holyrood election. But the last decade has been a trying one for the party.

How has Scotland's appetite for independence changed over the years? And if nothing's changed significantly in the polls why then is independence central to the SNP's electoral campaign strategy for the 2026 Holyrood election?