Click here to go straight to the fundraiser page.
We are about to move into a year which could well be catastrophic for the independence cause, and I for one would quite like to do something constructive to try to arrest that process. With your help, I’d like to commission a Scot Goes Pop poll, probably very early in the New Year (although something quicker might be possible if the funds are there) in which we try to identify a credible way forward as the general election approaches. The poll would probe the following –
* Would a pre-election change of SNP leader (however improbable that may seem at this late stage) help or hinder?
* Would a unity Cabinet with Kate Forbes as DFM or Finance Secretary help shore up the SNP’s vote?
* Would scrapping the coalition with the Greens, as Kate Forbes has suggested, be a step forward or could it even cost votes?
* Have the SNP alienated or demotivated their core vote by back-pedalling on independence? Could a more full-on independence push help the SNP shore up their position – a thought that many SNP careerists find counterintuitive?
* Has Ash Regan’s defection boosted support for the Alba Party?
* How do the public react to Alba’s plan to contest at least a dozen seats?
* What do voters think would be legitimate or illegitimate ways to secure independence in the absence of a referendum?
There will also of course be voting intention numbers, which will hopefully help clarify whether the SNP are indeed heading for defeat as things stand, or whether (as Ipsos suggested) they might yet hold Labour off. I am also open to suggestions for other supplementary questions.
I know my involvement in the Alba Party is always raised when I fundraise for polls, so let me be clear that I will firmly have my “general pro-independence blogger hat” on when I do this – I’ll be acting entirely independently and this will in no sense be an “Alba poll”. The questions about Alba will be scrutining questions – not least because, as you know, I’m sceptical as to the wisdom of running in as many as twelve seats and would genuinely like to discover the public’s view.
If you’d like to help make this poll happen, you can click here to go to the new GoFundMe fundraiser page.
However, the ideal way to donate is directly via Paypal, because the funds are usually transferred instantly and depending on the menu option you select, fees can be completely eliminated. My Paypal email address is jkellysta@yahoo.co.uk
You can simply send your donation via Paypal with a note saying “for the poll”.
