The Scottish National Party has announced plans to launch what it describes as its biggest campaign for Scottish independence since the 2014 referendum, with First Minister John Swinney confirming that the Choose Scotland initiative will begin at the party’s conference in Aberdeen this weekend.
The campaign is part of a £100,000 party effort to persuade voters of the case for independence. According to the SNP, it will include a new party political broadcast, an independence survey intended to reach nearly 1.5 million people and what the party calls its largest online advertising campaign outside an election.
Campaign to run through Christmas
The first phase will run through to Christmas, with a national day of campaigning planned around St Andrew’s Day on 30 November. SNP activists are expected to distribute campaign material across Scotland.
Party leaders say they intend to focus on decisions over energy, Scotland’s relationship with the European Union and public services. Those arguments represent the SNP’s political case for independence, rather than established outcomes of constitutional change.
Swinney renews independence push
Swinney says the campaign will build support for independence after the party’s performance in the Scottish Parliament election earlier this year. The SNP has described the initiative as its most extensive independence campaign since the 2014 vote.
The announcement comes amid continued disagreement over whether and when Scotland should hold another referendum. The UK Government has not agreed to a new independence referendum, and the campaign announcement does not change the legal position.
What the announcement does — and does not — mean
The £100,000 is an SNP campaigning allocation, not a new Scottish Government spending commitment. The planned survey is an outreach exercise, not a referendum or an official measure of public opinion. The stated aim of reaching nearly 1.5 million people is a campaign plan, not a confirmed number of responses.
Polling on Scottish independence remains contested and sensitive to question wording and the treatment of undecided voters. The SNP's announcement establishes the scale of its planned campaign, but does not demonstrate that a settled majority supports independence.