Nicola Sturgeon's ally poll team raises donations despite no polls for three years

Angus Robertson remains Managing Director of Progress Scotland and is the only officer registered with Companies House and associated with the firm. Photo: Jane Barlow/Pennsylvania

The pro-independence polling organization, run by a close ally of Nicola Sturgeon, is still accepting donations from supporters despite the fact that no polls have been taken for nearly three years.

Progress Scotland was formed in 2018 year by SNP politician Angus. Robertson after he lost his Morea seat in the general election.

The organization specializes in polling, focus groups, and other research, but has not published its own poll results since October 2020.

p>< p>Robertson, 53, remains the organization's managing director and the only officer registered with Companies House and associated with the firm. He has stated that he will no longer be doing opinion poll work, but he is accepting donations for the research.

According to the latest reports, the firm has had only one employee since 2019 and the company owes £10,000. to creditors and had only £7,000 in current assets.

Angus Robertson is a close ally of former SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon Credit : Stuart Wallace/Shutterstock

After the organization's official launch, Mr Robertson said it had signed thousands of subscribers at recommended rates of £3 to £12 a month. It is believed that most of the money raised was used to pay for the services of the survey expert, as well as for new research.

However, Survation's latest commissioned survey was a survey on Scotland's relationship with the EU in October 2020. The organization has periodically published blog posts, but has not released any original survey research since.

Progress Scotland said it had ordered a new one. survey.

The company website still advertises subscriptions sold on the field as they are required to pay for the survey.

«Please support the work of Progress Scotland by becoming a subscriber» — it says. «Polls and analysis for Progress Scotland are dependent on a subscription to research funding.

“The more subscribers Progress Scotland has, the more work we can get done. You can make a difference by signing up for a small monthly subscription to help fund this important research.”

Company Accepts Funds

The Telegraph was able to confirm that the company accepts funds after a nominal donation. .

Mr. Robertson is currently an MSP for Edinburgh Central and his register of interest indicates that he has not undertaken any work for the position since his election.

MSP, seen by some members as a potential successor to Nicola Sturgeon, said he expected to receive a final payment of between £501 and £1,000 for work completed prior to his election.

Opposition parties were polled. Why were donations still accepted when polls hadn't been done in years and Mr. Robertson said he wouldn't do any work.

Jackie Bailey, Scottish Labor deputy leader, said: «This raises serious questions that both the SNP and Angus Robertson need to answer.

«At a time when the SNP should focus on putting things in order at home, prominent members of the cabinet seem to be taking money instead based on empty promises.

“This lack of transparency goes to the heart of the SNP. Scotland deserves better.”

“Dark Nationalist Finance”

Craig Hoy, chairman of the Scottish Conservative, said: «It would be interesting to know what this pro-independence think tank has been up to if its attention has been on a poll and it's been nearly three years since there has been one.

«Angus Robertson is now focusing more on more remote areas, but if the organization doesn't want to be compared to nebulous nationalist finances, he needs to be transparent about how it spends the donations and subscriptions it still collects.»

Peter Murrell, former party executive and husband of Nicola Sturgeon, was arrested two weeks ago. Colin Beatty, party treasurer, was arrested this week and has since retired.

Both men have been released without charge pending further investigation.

Since July 2021, the Scottish Police have been investigating the SNP's appeal of over £600,000 in donations raised in 2017 for the second independence referendum.

p>Supporters filed complaints

Supporters filed complaints when records filed with Companies House in 2020 showed that the SNP had only £97,000 in the bank, despite the fact that the referendum never took place.

In a statement, Progress Scotland said that is conducting research on independence-ready voters through internal and external surveys.

A spokesperson added: “By identifying groups of voters who are undecided or seeking independence, Progress Scotland has been able to build on early commercial surveys with targeted follow-up research.

«There are enough voters who are open-minded about Scottish independence to get a majority in favour.»

«Further research is ongoing, including the upcoming public commercial opinion poll» .