THE majority of SNP voters want the Bute House Agreement with the Greens to continue, according to a new poll.

Research by Panelbase for The Times found 53% of voters backed the cooperation deal, which gives the Greens two junior ministerial posts in Government.

The agreement was one of the main talking points during the SNP leadership contest, given it looked set to end had Kate Forbes or Ash Regan won the hearts of SNP members rather than Humza Yousaf.

The poll also found 35% of voters wanted the agreement to end in favour of the SNP governing through a minority administration, while 12% were unsure whether they wanted the pact to continue.

Yousaf remains committed to the deal and has kept Green co-leaders Patrick Harvie and Lorna Slater in his Government.

READ MORE: Passport Office strike starts as staff ‘relying on food banks’

It comes after Fergus Ewing, the former SNP rural affairs secretary, called for the end of the power-sharing agreement and dubbed the Greens “wine bar pseudo-intellectuals”.

He wrote in the Scottish Daily Mail: "We’ve allied ourselves to a small group of fringe extremists that want to dismantle our economy, put hundreds of thousands on the dole and basically close down rural Scotland."

Green MSP Ross Greer said Ewing was "indistinguishable" from the Tories on most issues and "clearly despises" progressive governing.

Across all parties, Panelbase found 33% backed the deal, with 43% opposed and 21% unsure. 

Support for Scotland leaving the UK was stable at 46%, with 49% for the Union and 5% don’t knows.

Support for the SNP would fall by four points to 39 per cent at the next General Election, and they would lose 14 MPs, according to the research.

Alba would secure its first two MSPs at the next Holyrood election if the poll proved accurate.