Ipsos MORI Takes Scottish Independence Poll Role

Ipsos MORI Scotland has been commissioned by television channel STV to provide its News unit with a series of six opinion polls charting the views of Scottish voters in the run up to the independence referendum in a year's time.

Voters will be polled on how they intend to vote in the referendum and in parliamentary elections, and on their views on the performance of the leaders of Scotland's main political parties. Data from each poll will be presented exclusively on STV News at Six and Scotland Tonight, with a full analysis of the results and the likely implications for Scottish politics.

Ipsos MORI Scotland Research Director Mark Diffley says each poll will be among a representative sample of 1,000 adults from across Scotland, with 16- and 17-year olds included. All polls will be conducted by telephone, with the results of the first set to be broadcast on STV on Tuesday 17th September.

Gordon Macmillan, Head of News at STV, comments: 'The STV news and current affairs team is committed to providing comprehensive coverage on all the big issues ahead of the 2014 referendum, and polling the views of the Scottish public is an important part of that coverage. The poll results provided at key points in the debate will give us a better understanding of public opinion and inform programming in the run up to the referendum next year.'

Web sites:www.ipsos.com and www.stv.tv .