Elections watchdog offers to help SNP with second independence referendum Updated: 27/06/2021, 8:49 am Bosses at the Electoral Commission have offered to help the SNP hold a second independence referendum, despite opposition from the prime minister. The regulator’s new chairman John Pullinger has said he is open to an “independent discussion” with Scottish officials if they wanted “something to be done that helps them with their democracy”. His remarks put the commission on a collision course with the Boris Johnson, who has said he will reject any request for an “irresponsible and reckless” second poll. Nicola Sturgeon has claimed that May’s Holyrood elections gave the SNP a mandate for a second poll, and nationalists have raised the prospect of the first minister seeking a unilateral poll if Westminster rejects her demands.