On Dunfermline¡¯s main shopping street, locals in the ancient capital of Scotland move from store to store, running errands. Some stop to exchange a few words in the spring sunshine.

There¡¯s little to suggest a national vote is just days away, one that could deal another blow to Britain¡¯s beleaguered leader and reinvigorate Scotland¡¯s push for independence. No party is out canvassing. There are no posters.

Less than two years ago, the Scottish parliamentary election had promised to be a hard-fought contest between a resurgent Labour Party fresh from winning power in the U.K. and a Scottish National Party mired in scandal and struggling to stem a collapse in support. Instead, it¡¯s turned into another demonstration of the scale of the challenge facing Prime Minister Keir Starmer to turn around the fortunes of his government, and his own.