With the SNP leadership contest in full swing, attention turns to the electorate – the party’s members. Who are they and what do they think?

We know something about this thanks to an @ESRC-funded survey @LGBennie, @ProfJMitchell and I fielded in 2016-17. Before some findings, two methods-y caveats:

1. This was an online survey of all members who’d supplied the party with e-mail addresses (the large majority but not all) and the response rate was 21%. Newer members were less likely to respond, as presumably were the less active.

Much speculation about who’s in #TheQueue and why, but little evidence. That is, until a doughty band of @uniessexgovt researchers began a survey (using the kinds of methods developed for studying protests). Survey ongoing but here are snippets based on the first 300 responses. First, @ReicherStephen (theguardian.com/commentisfree/…) is right about the multiple motivations for attending. Being there at a historic moment was as important as Queen-specific motivations, and things like "feel part of a wider group" were given 6/6 importance by plenty of queuers.