Conservative leave voters in England prioritise Brexit over Scotland remaining part of the UK, finds Lord Ashcroft poll

More than three quarters of Conservative leave voters in England would rather the UK exited the European Union than Scotland remained part of the UK, according to new polling from Lord Ashcroft.

Asked which they would choose, if it is not possible to have both, 76 per cent of Tory leave voters would prioritise Brexit over the continued integrity of the UK, compared to 48 per cent of Labour leave voters and 36 per cent of voters in England overall. It found 45 per cent of voters overall would prioritise Scotland remaining in the UK over Brexit.

Meanwhile 74 per cent of Tory leave voters in England would choose leaving the EU over Northern Ireland remaining part of the UK.

Overall, 51 per cent of those polled, all based in England, said they wouldn’t mind either way if Scotland voted for independence, while 39 per cent said they would be sorry if Scotland voted to leave the UK, and six per cent said they would be happy with the outcome.

Among leave voters, 61 per cent said they wouldn’t mind either way if Scotland voted for independence, while ten per cent said they would be happy.

The poll found 43 per cent believe Brexit makes Scottish independence more likely, with 23 per cent saying it makes no difference.

Asked which part benefits most from Scotland being in the UK, 37 per cent of those polled said Scotland, 32 per cent Scotland and the rest of the UK benefit equally, and nine per cent said England and the rest of the UK benefited more than Scotland.

But the percentage of those who believe Scotland benefits the most from being part of the UK rose to 66 per cent among Tory leave voters and 42 per cent among Conservative remain voters.

Among Conservative leave voters, 54 per cent said they believed England subsidised Scotland and they were unhappy about it, 24 per cent agreed England subsidized spending in Scotland but they were happy with it, and 18 per cent said they didn’t know.

The polling was conducted in October, based on a sample of 1,558 adults in England.

It comes after a previous round of polling from Lord Ashcroft in August put support for independence at 46 per cent for and 43 per cent against.

Once those who said they didn’t know how they would vote, or said they would not vote, were removed, support for independence rose to 52 per cent for, 48 per cent against.

For the results in full see lordashcroftpolls.com