Scots warm to closer working between Scottish and UK Governments under Burnham.

New Ipsos Scotland polling finds a marked rise since May in positive attitudes towards close working between the Scottish and UK governments.  

• 42% of Scots would feel happy about the SNP-led Scottish Government working closely with the UK Labour Government, up 12 points since May.  
• 41% would feel happy about the Scottish Government working closely with the Plaid Cymru-led Welsh Government, up three points from May. 34% would feel happy about close working with the Northern Ireland Executive, led by Sinn Féin, an increase of five points since May.
• 51% think Scotland is heading in the wrong direction, up six points since May.

Commenting on the findings, Emily Gray, Managing Director of Ipsos Scotland, said:

While recent speeches from John Swinney and Andy Burnham have underlined their differences over Scotland’s future, these new results show an increased public appetite for the Scottish and UK governments to work closely together.

The public are feeling much more positive about Scotland’s two governments working closely together than they did in May, a period that has also seen Burnham replace Keir Starmer at Westminster.

That includes working closely with the UK Government to deliver results, which the SNP’s own supporters are, on balance, more in favour of than not’.

Four in ten Scots (42%) say they would feel happy about the SNP-led Scottish Government working closely with the UK Labour Government, up from 30% in May. Over the same period, the proportion who would feel unhappy has fallen from 34% to 24%. 
 

Positive attitudes towards close working with the other devolved administrations have also increased, though more modestly. Fieldwork was conducted after the leaders of the governing parties of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland signed a joint declaration in Cardiff on 14 September, calling for the right to self-determination. It also followed a separate agreement between the Scottish and Welsh governments on closer cooperation across a range of issues.

41% of Scots would feel happy about the Scottish Government working closely with the Plaid Cymru-led Welsh Government, up three points from May. Fewer than one in five (19%) say they would feel unhappy about this.

Views on the Scottish Government working closely with the Northern Ireland Executive led by Sinn Féin are more divided. 34% of Scots would feel happy about this, up from 29% in May. However, 27% would feel unhappy about this, unchanged since May.

Meanwhile, pessimism about Scotland’s direction has increased. Just over half (51%) think Scotland is heading in the wrong direction, up six points since May, while 20% think it is heading in the right direction. A further 21% say neither and 8% do not know.  

Notes to Editors:

• For media queries, please contact the Ipsos in the UK Press Office at [email protected]  
• Ipsos interviewed a representative sample of 1,033 adults aged 16+ in Scotland online between 18-28 September 2026.
• Data are weighted to match the profile of the population. All polls are subject to a wide range of potential sources of error.  
• May comparisons are with Ipsos Scotland Political Pulse polling conducted between 22-29 May 2026.