Andover residents are more likely than average to support the legalisation of assisted dying, according to a poll of Advertiser readers.

Last week, the Advertiser invited two of the area’s MPs, Kit Malthouse and Danny Kruger, to debate the issue, with the former being in favour while the latter is against. Readers were then asked to vote on whether or not they thought the practice should be legalised.

Of those who voted, 94 per cent were in favour of legalising assisted dying, while six per cent were against. This puts Andover above the national average of support for assisted dying, with a poll for YouGov in 2020 suggesting that 61 per cent of people were in favour of legalisation across the UK.

The poll follows a number of developments in the campaigns for and against the introduction of assisted dying in the UK.

in May this year, Baroness Meacher introduced an assisted dying bill to the House of Lords, which would allow for any terminally ill person who is expected to live for less than six months to ask for two doctors and a judge to certify their decision to end their life.

Elsewhere, in Jersey, a government-established Citizens’ Jury saw 78 per cent of members vote in favour of the legalisation of assisted dying on the island. In Scotland, meanwhile, Liberal Democrat MSP Liam McArthur introduced a bill for legalising assisted dying.

However, this has received pushback from groups opposed to assisted dying. 175 medics wrote to the Scottish Health Secretary to oppose its legalisation, saying it is ‘an enormous shift’ for doctors.

Meanwhile, while at a meeting of the All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Dying Well which opposes legalisation, then UK Health Secretary Matt Hancock, endorsed the idea of setting up a “What Works” centre to gather evidence on the quality of palliative care in the UK and inform debate around assisted dying. He said he remained “neutral” on the issue.