TORY messaging that the UK is a singular nation – and not made up of four partner nations – is “unlikely to end well”, a new report has found.

The idea, promoted by Tory British nationalist figures like David Frost, that the UK is one indivisible nation rather than made up of four nations will not appeal to the electorate, according to research published by UK In A Changing Europe.

The study commented that figures like Frost disparage the idea of the UK being made up of separate nations because it implies the four constituent countries are “states in-waiting”.

Frost has previously said the idea of Scottish independence is "morally wrong" and that devolution should "evolve back".

READ MORE: King Charles welcomed to Cardiff Castle by protesters with anti-monarchy signs

The question the survey put to respondents asked whether they "think that there is only one British nation in the UK; whether they believe that there is no British nation but rather separate nations in each part of the state; or, alternatively, whether they view the state as consisting of both a British as well as other constituent nations?”

The majority of answers from respondents in Scotland (74%), Wales (65%) and England (61%) included the belief that the constituent countries of the UK were separate nations.

Meanwhile, the idea that there is only one British state was least popular in Scotland (19% of respondents compared to 24% of English voters and 25% of Welsh voters).

Researchers noted that one of the more peculiar attitudes was how Tory supporters in England felt about the status of the home nations compared to those in Wales and Scotland.

48% of Tory supporters in both Scotland and Wales view the UK as constituted of a singular British state. In contrast, only 28% of Tory voters in England shared this belief.

Based on these findings, researchers questioned Tory messaging on national identity as appeasing the party faithful in Wales and Scotland, but said it could serve to alienate those in England – who are much likelier to acknowledge the status of the home nations alongside those of the UK.

The research was penned by Professor Richard Wyn Jones from Cardiff University and Professor Ailsa Henderson from the University of Edinburgh.

They wrote: “Frost’s remarks serve to underline the extent to which the Conservatives seem to have run out of ideas on how to challenge the dominance of the SNP in Scotland and are increasingly ill-equipped to deal with the fact that the UK is not just a multi-national state, but a ‘plurinational’ one – a country in which conceptions of the state vary depending on where in the UK one lives or which party one supports.”

They concluded that some prominent Tories seem “intent on rejecting the messy compromises inherent in devolution” and that they “demand allegiance tests to a single, very particular understanding of the state”.

They added: “This is ahistorical, un-Conservative and unlikely to end well.”