HALF of Scots would vote for the SNP at the next General Election if doing so would mean leaving the Union, a poll has found.

The survey, which was commissioned by Channel 4 News from pollsters Find Out Now in the wake of the Supreme Court’s historic decision, found 50% would back the party in a de-facto referendum.

After the court found the Scottish Parliament does not have the legislative competence to hold a legal independence vote without Westminster’s consent, Nicola Sturgeon confirmed her intention to use the next UK-wide election as a de-facto referendum.

She announced that her party will hold an emergency conference in the coming weeks to establish exactly how that would work.

In the wake of the judges’ decision, broadcaster Channel 4 and their polling partners asked 1006 Scottish voters – 412 of whom were SNP voters in 2019 – how they would vote in such a situation.

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The respondents were asked: “Would you vote SNP at the next General Election if a victory for them could lead to Scotland leaving the UK?”

Some 50% said yes, 33% said no, and 16% said they didn’t know or preferred not to say.

That result would be roughly the same as the 2015 General Election, when the SNP won 50% and took 56 of the 59 Scottish seats available.

In the poll, people were also asked if they would vote SNP at the next election if their vote would be used as a mandate to negotiate for independence. The result was largely the same – but 51% said yes, a percentage more.

On the issue of what’s most important to them, 26% said independence, while 61% said the economy and public services.