THE POLITICS OF IMMIGRATION

In the televised leaders debate, Nicola Sturgeon sought to directly
challenge UKIP leader Nigel Farage, arguing that he should “put the
bogeyman to one side and debate these issues for real”. UKIP found it
much harder to win support in Scotland, taking just 1.6% of the vote
there, compared to 14% in Wales and England. UKIP did win over 10%
of the Scottish vote in the 2014 European elections, though again this was
around a third of their GB-wide share.
Several studies have shown that public attitudes in Scotland are
mildly less sceptical about immigration, but they are not dramatically
different to the rest of the UK. Levels of immigration are lower in
Scotland. The 2001 census showed that just under 370,000 people (7%)
of those resident in Scotland were born outside of the UK, though this
had nearly doubled since 2001. Attitudes towards the EU are also a little
warmer. The Survation post-election poll confirms a broadly similar spread
of views on immigration North and South of the border when Scots are
asked to rate the contribution of immigration on a 0-10 scale.
Figure 16: Immigration 0-10 scores, Scotland and England.
20%
18%
16%
14%
12%
10%
8%
6%
4%
2%
0%
0 -­‐
en,rely
nega,ve
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 -­‐
en,rely
England Scotland
posi,ve
By party, SNP voters are mildly more pro-migration than Scottish
voters for other parties. There remains, however, a minority of more
migration-sceptic SNP voters, particularly among those with a ‘Scottish
not British’ identity, reflecting the views of some long-standing supporters
of Scottish independence prior to the modernisation of the party from the
1990s that broadened the party’s appeal.
Figure 17: Scotland 0-10 immigration scores by party
20%
18%
16%
14%
12%
10%
8%
6%
4%
2%
0%
0 -­‐
en,rely
nega,ve
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 -­‐
en,rely
posi,ve
SNP Con Lab
32 British Future / The Politics of Immigration