SUPPORT for the monarchy in Scotland has dropped rapidly during the first year of King Charles’s reign, according to a new poll.
A YouGov poll undertaken in autumn 2022 put support for the monarchy in Scotland at 50% compared to 34% backing a republic.
However, new polling from Survation commissioned by anti-monarchy campaign group Our Republic found that just 34% of Scots surveyed supported the continuation of a hereditary monarchy while 45% said they would prefer an elected head of state.
With don’t knows excluded from the results it puts support for the monarchy at 43% compared to support for an elected head of state at 57%.
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It marks the first that time that Scotland has registered such a clear preference for an elected head of state as well as the first time any nation within the UK has recorded such an large rejection of the monarchy in polling.
The results also show an overwhelming preference for an elected head of state among younger demographics.
Amongst those aged between 25-34, support for an elected head of state stood at 59% while support for the monarchy was just 17%.
Only Conservative voters in Scotland registered majority support for the monarchy, with 73% being in favour.
However, SNP, Labour, Liberal Democrat and Scottish Greens voters were all found to have majorities in favour of an elected head of state.
“This is a hugely significant day for our campaign,” a spokesperson for Our Republic said.
“We’re proud of the work we have done in recent years to promote the republican cause and normalise republicanism in our politics.
“Coming in the wake of Charles gifting his wife Camilla and brother Edward appointments to Order of the Thistle - far from winning over the Scottish public this has clearly backfired, with Scots rejecting the entitlement the monarchy feels to our heritage and the places we call home from their distant manors.
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“Charles should do the right thing and begin a process of transitioning to the elected head of state that Scots want to see.
“A first step in that direction should clearly be removing the title of his brother, Andrew, whose atrocious reputation should no longer be associated with the City of Inverness.”
Indeed, the survey also asked whether Prince Andrew should lose the title of Earl of Inverness.
While across the whole of Scotland 70% felt King Charles should remove the title from his brother, in the Highlands and Islands an overwhelming 75% wanted it to be removed.
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