Recent news from Scotland suggests the end of an era. The Scottish National Party (SNP), which has dominated politics north of the English border since the 2014 independence referendum, has suffered a chaotic year and now trails Labour in opinion polls for the first time in almost a decade. The next election could well see the same party win a majority of seats in England, Scotland and Wales for the first time since 2005. Does the SNP’s decline mean that their dream of independence is over and that the union is now safe? Or should we be more struck by the fact that a truly disastrous year for the party has left seemingly no dent in popular support for independence? This week we are delighted to be joined by Professor Rob Johns, a principal investigator on the Scottish Election Study, for insight and analysis on the future of the United Kingdom in the run-up to and aftermath of the next election.