A quarter of Scots would be more likely to back independence regardless of whether Rishi Sunak or Liz Truss becomes the next Prime Minister, a new poll has found.
The two Conservative leadership candidates arrive in Scotland today for a party hustings in Perth - but most Scots said whoever ultimately replaces Boris Johnson would not make a difference to their vote.
The Survation poll found 19 per cent of Scots were “much more likely to support Scottish independence” if Rishi Sunak became Prime Minister, and seven per cent “a little more likely”, to make 26 per cent in total.
For Liz Truss, the figures were 20 per cent and five per cent respectively, to total 25 per cent.
Just six per cent were a little or much more likely to oppose Scottish independence with Sunak, against seven per cent for Truss.
Three fifths of Scots, 60 per cent, contacted said having Sunak as Prime Minister would make no difference to how they planned to vote, whereas the figure was 58 per cent for Truss.
Sunak beat Truss on most attributes like leading the country by 27 per cent to 25 per cent, on handling the economy by 40 per cent to 20 per cent, on tackling the cost of living crisis by 32 per cent to 24 per cent.
However, Truss was seen as more honest and truthful, by 25 per cent to 19 per cent, and significantly more in touch with the public by 34 per cent to 19 per cent.
Mark Diffley, of the Diffley Partnership which funded the poll, said: “The poll looks in depth at the impact of the upcoming Tory leadership election on voters in Scotland, and the issues that matter.
"Unsurprisingly, voters see Rishi Sunak as a safer pair of hands on economic issues, but Liz Truss has the edge when it comes to more personal perceptions.”
He added: “It is also interesting that, amongst Conservative voters in Scotland, Liz Truss is seen as more in touch and a better prospect to take on the SNP.”
“Of course we do not know how many of these Conservative voters are members of the party, but it does seem to reflect what we are hearing from other parts of the UK, where the Foreign Secretary appears to be leading the former Chancellor.”
