England In England, support for the Union has traditionally been high, while support for a separate English state has conversely been relatively low. However, the rise of
English nationalism has seen a decrease in support for the United Kingdom, although English nationalism does not necessarily advocate English independence from the United Kingdom. In November 2006, an ICM poll, commissioned by the
Sunday Telegraph, showed that support for full English independence had reached 48% of those questioned. However, two polls conducted in 2007 and 2013 showed that English support for the Union was stable and high, with 78% opposed to English independence in 2013.
Scotland In 2014, a
referendum for Scottish independence was held. Voters were asked: "Should Scotland be an independent country?" 44.7% of voters answered "Yes" and 55.3% answered "No", with a record
voter turnout of 84.5%. Chief counting officer Mary Pitcaithly stated: "It is clear that the majority of people voting have voted No to the referendum question." Results were compiled from 32 council areas, with Glasgow backing independence—voting 53.5% "Yes" to 46.5% "No" (turnout in the area was 75%)—and Edinburgh voting against independence by 61% to 39% (turnout in the area was 84%). This shows that Glasgow area has the most anti - Unionist beliefs and Edinburgh area has the most pro - unionist beliefs. Although support for independence declined and/or stagnated generally between 2015 and 2018, it started to increase towards the end of 2019. Independence was leading over Union support in most polls for each month of 2020 up to July. On 6 July 2020, Professor Sir John Curtice stated that "support for the Union [in Scotland] has never been weaker". Following the Brexit transition period, and the
UK-EU trade deal going into effect,
unionism has generally polled higher than nationalism within Scotland.
Wales Multiple polls since 2007 show most people in Wales support remaining part of the United Kingdom over
Welsh independence. In 2007, almost 70% of people in Wales supported remaining part of the UK whilst 20% were in favour of
Welsh independence. In 2013, support for remaining in the UK was between 49% and 74% of the population. The lowest support for unionism in a standard opinion poll in Wales was 49% in April 2021, with the support for Welsh independence being 42%, the latter's highest ever figure in polling.
Northern Ireland Prior to the
Catholic Relief Act 1793, Irish Catholics could not vote; and they could not sit in the Westminster Parliament until the passing of the
Emancipation Act 1829. Until this point, Ireland's constitutional position was determined by a Unionist Protestant minority. As the Irish population was overwhelmingly Catholic, the penal laws effectively disenfranchised Irish people in Ireland and of course the same effect could be seen in Great Britain where such laws against Catholics overwhelmingly fell on the Irish. Towards the end of the 19th century,
Irish unionism was, by and large concentrated in some counties of Ulster as a result of Catholic Relief acts and Catholic Emancipation and later expansion of male suffrage which allowed Irish Catholic nationalists to vote for Irish
home rule. This led to the
partition of Ireland along the lines of nationalism and unionism in 1920, causing 26 out of 32
counties of Ireland to be separated from the Union to form the
Irish Free State in 1922. The rest of the counties were incorporated to
Northern Ireland, which remained part of the United Kingdom. In 2012, Northern Irish support for the Union had increased after the end of
The Troubles, especially within the Roman Catholic population. In part, this is as a result of a decreasing association of the Union with radical or extremist political ideologies following the
Good Friday Agreement. After
Brexit, support for a
United Ireland was shown to have increased to a majority in one poll concerning reunification within 20 years, however most polling still puts Unionism firmly in the lead. == Recent political history ==