44 percent of people in Scotland agree with same sex marriage for top political leaders

RELIGIONS NEWS AGENCY (REDNA) – Scotland is divided over whether or not opposing same-sex marriage should be a bar to political leadership.

According to a YouGov poll commissioned by the think tank Theos. It found that 40 per cent of people in Scotland think opposition to same-sex marriage should be a bar to holding a top government job versus 44 per cent who think it should not.

The Times reported that in Britain as a whole, only 31 per cent of voters said politicians opposed to same-sex marriage should be allowed to hold a top government job, while 50 per cent said they should not.

The online survey of 2,000 people was conducted days after the SNP leadership hopeful Kate Forbes said she would not have voted for same sex marriage, on the grounds of religious belief, if she had been an MSP at the time.

The resulting furore has opened a public debate on how private religious views are compatible with leadership of a political party.