QOSHE - Support for the Union slips as backing for independence edges ever upwards After years of SNP decline following Nicola Sturgeon’s resignation, the escalation of Operation Branchform, and a disastrous stint as First Minister for Humza Yousaf, it feels profoundly weird to be starting 2025 thinking things are looking up for Scotland’s party of government. Likewise, that Labour’s prospects of taking power at Holyrood look rockier after dealing the SNP a hammering in the July general election than they did beforehand.