Scottish Social Attitudes 2023
Event
Attitudes to National Identity and Devolution
Explore shifts in public opinion on devolution, independence, and national identity in Scotland and England over 25 years.
Over the past decade there have been two referendums, the Scottish Independence referendum in 2014 and the Brexit referendum in 2016. The issues of national identity, pride and immigration have been central to the debate in both.
On 3rd September, we published the final chapter of the 41st British Social Attitudes report on national identity. This chapter aimed to understand how people in Britain conceptualised their national identity and how this related to what they took pride in about Britain. In addition, we explored how it related to people’s views on key constitutional questions, such as Britain’s position outside the EU and Scotland’s position within the UK.
This latest British Social Attitudes and Scottish Social Attitudes data examined:
- How do Scotland’s population think they should be governed?
- What is Scotland’s position on devolution? Has devolution encouraged people in Scotland to feel Scottish rather than British?
- What does it mean to be Scottish? And how does this differ from what it means to be British?
- Are there any differences in attitudes to identity, national pride and immigration in Scotland and England?
Sir John Curtice shared insights based on 25 years of Scottish Social Attitudes data, examining changes in public opinion on Scottish devolution and independence. Afterward, Alex Scholes explored national identity, presenting a comparative analysis of how England and Scotland view national identity, pride, immigration, and economic protectionism.
The session offered a thorough understanding of the evolving attitudes both within and between these two nations.
Speakers
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Sir John CurticeSenior Research Fellow National Centre for Social Research
Sir John Curtice is Senior Research Fellow at NatCen, Professor of Politics at Strathclyde University, and Chief Commentator on the What UK Thinks: EU and What Scotland Thinks websites.
He has been a regular contributor to the annual British Social Attitudes report since 1986 and an editor since 1994. He has also been a Co-Director of the Scottish Social Attitudes survey since its foundation in 1999, and his analyses of Scottish public opinion in the run up to the independence referendum were frequently featured throughout the campaigns.
In 2018, he received a knighthood in the New Year's Honours list. Sir John is a regular media commentator on both British and Scottish politics.
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Alex ScholesSenior Researcher National Centre for Social Research
Alex joined ScotCen as a Researcher following the completion of his Masters in September 2018. Since then he has been involved in a variety of projects utilising a wide range of different research methodologies across a range of policy areas. Projects he is currently working on include the ESRC funded ‘What UK Thinks: EU’ and ‘What Scotland Thinks’ websites, the Scottish Social Attitudes Survey (SSA) and evaluations of the Distress Brief Interventions Programme.
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Lesley RiddochBroadcasterLesley Riddoch is an award-winning broadcaster, journalist, author, filmmaker, podcaster, cyclist, land reform campaigner and lover of all things Nordic. She is best known for broadcasting with programmes on BBC2, Channel 4, Radio 4 and BBC Radio Scotland, for which she won two Sony speech broadcaster awards. She was also Assistant Editor of the Scotsman and edited the paper when it became the Scotswoman on International Women’s Day in 1995, and was part of the start-up team for the Sunday Herald. She’s written weekly columns for the National since its inception in 2014 and used to write for the Herald, Scotsman and Guardian. She now appears regularly on BBC and STV as a political commentator. Lesley was a member of the trust that helped the people of Eigg buy their own island in 1997 and founded Africawoman, a charity that trained female journalists across the continent in 1999. In 2020 she won the Saltire Society Fletcher of Saltoun Award for her contribution to public life. Lesley has co-presented a weekly Lesley Riddoch Podcast for more than a decade - now with North Fife neighbour Patrick Joyce. She has written five books (the latest Thrive explores the case for independence) and co-produced/presented six films (the latest about Denmark was screened across Scotland in early 2024). Lesley is co-founder and director of the Scottish think tank Nordic Horizons which has brought 70 Nordic specialists over to Scotland to speak in the Scottish Parliament and meet MSPs, civil servants and the Scottish public since 2011.
Chair
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Gillian PriorDeputy Chief Executive National Centre for Social Research
As well as the Deputy Chief Executive at the National Centre for Social Research (NatCen), Gillian is Director of NatCen's Social Surveys Department.
Gillian leads a large team of researchers, data specialists and operational staff, including NatCen’s interviewers and biomedical fieldworkers. She oversees the design, management and delivery of NatCen’s portfolio of social surveys in a wide range of policy areas, covering housing, education, health and transport. She also has oversight of the Scottish Centre for Social Research (ScotCen), and our award-winning NatCen Opinion Panel.Gillian has spent her career in applied social research and has over 25 years’ experience of managing social surveys and leading research teams. She regularly appears in the national press and broadcast media, talking about social trends. She is a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences and a trustee of the Social Research Association.
