Some Holyrood hopefuls were still at school during the 2014 referendum but there is doubt over the scale of their support
When Scotland voted to remain in the United Kingdom in the 2014 referendum, Valentina Servera Clavell was 14 and living in Barcelona amid a burgeoning movement for Catalan independence. “We were looking to Scotland for an example that we could use to justify asking for our own referendum,” she said. “When the results came in, we were deeply sad because [the pro-independence side] were not only fighting for Scotland but for all the other independence movements across the world.”
Now 21 and a student at Glasgow Caledonian University, Servera Clavell is hoping to be selected as the SNP candidate for the city’s Shettleston constituency in next year’s Scottish parliament elections. Her candidacy comes as new polling shows huge support for independence among young voters, with 79% of 16- to 24-year-olds and 68% of 25- to 34-year-olds saying they would support leaving the union. Overall, the Ipsos Mori poll suggested 58% of voters in Scotland now backed independence.
