Sir John Curtice: Which issues will decide the elections in Scotland and Wales?

Sir John Curtice: Which issues will decide the elections in Scotland and Wales? 6 minutes ago Share Save Sir John Curtice Professor of politics, Strathclyde University Share Save Voters will go to the polls on 7 May in elections for the Scottish and Welsh parliaments. As political parties gear up for the election, a poll for the BBC has examined the issues which will influence how people plan to cast their votes. The poll of voters in Scotland and Wales suggests three key issues will be at the top of voters' minds when they elect their new governments in Holyrood and the Senedd. The first is the state of the economy, including above all the cost of living. The second is the performance of health and social care services. And the third is the level of immigration. There are some differences among voters as to how highly they place these issues. Health and social care are mentioned particularly by older voters and women. Immigration is particularly an issue for those who voted Reform at the 2024 election. Meanwhile, younger voters quite often mention a fourth issue, housing. Nevertheless, it would seem that no party can afford to ignore these three key issues if they wish to win the elections. On all three, there is widespread concern about the direction in which their country has been heading. In both Scotland and Wales, well over half say their country's economy has got worse over the last 12 months and around half feel their health service has deteriorated. Those who believe their economy or health service is getting better are decidedly thin on the ground. Although in both nations more people feel that having migrants from outside the UK has been good for their country than feel it has been bad, around half feel their country now needs fewer migrants coming from abroad to live here. Even among SNP and Plaid Cymru supporters, both of whose parties have taken a relatively liberal stance on immigration and asylum seekers, more would like to see the level of migration...