Edinburgh: We find more undecided voters than in opinion polls

We currently have nearly 200 members, and day-to-day governance is with a committee of around five to seven.

We are passionate about being non-party political: we have members from all the main pro-indy parties, but many of our members are not linked to any party.

We also have quite a few members who were neutral or voted No in 2014 but who now see independence as the way forward – including some like myself who have only moved to Scotland after the 2016 EU Referendum.

Yes Dunbar benefited enormously from a grant from the Scottish Independence Foundation (SIF) when we were re-formed and while we don’t charge a subscription, we have some members who give regularly.

We see our mission as supporting undecided voters in the Dunbar area to understand the case for independence – by courteous engagement (in person and online) and by sharing appropriate literature. In East Lothian, only 38% voted Yes in 2014, and we look to increase that significantly.

READ MORE: Scottish Borders: After each event, people sign up to get involved

We have been running regular campaigning activities over most of the past five years: in the pandemic we hosted a range of online speaker meetings, but we find that getting out and about is the best way to meet people.

We have had some success with street stalls – usually we have a board with a couple of key questions where we invite people to add adhesive spots to express their views.

But some of our best engagement has been with door-to-door surveys. We just start by saying: “We are from the local campaign group, Yes Dunbar – can we ask you five short questions on some current issues?”

Our five questions focus on:

1. Overall view of the UK Government (on a 0 to 10 scale from terrible to brilliant).
2. Overall view of the Scottish Government (same scale).
3. Views on the decision to leave the EU (same scale).
4. The extent to which the person would favour Scotland becoming “an independent country in the next few years”.
5. Likely voting intentions in a 2024 General Election (we don’t ask about parties, just whether they would favour a pro-Union or pro-independence candidate).

While we obviously get some people not wishing to speak to us, or just too busy, we find the vast majority of people who answer the door are happy to respond – this applies across all types of housing. Even those who are clearly pro-Union are usually happy that someone has asked their opinion.

But for those who are pro-independence or undecided, we offer some literature including the 2021 booklet Independence In Your Pocket from SIF, and materials from Believe in Scotland.

We also offer the opportunity to those who are clearly pro-indy to sign up as Yes Dunbar members if they wish.

But the most valuable doorstep conversations are with those who say they are currently undecided about independence – we tend to find many more people in that position than would be expected from opinion polls.