Due to her residency in Scotland, Rowling was eligible to vote in the 2014 referendum on Scottish independence, during the run-up to which she campaigned for the "No" vote. She donated £1 million to the Better Together anti-independence campaign run by her former neighbour Alistair Darling, the largest donation it had received at the time. In a blog post, Rowling explained that an open letter from Scottish medical professionals raised problems with First Minister Alex Salmond's plans for a common research funding. Rowling compared some Scottish Nationalists with the Death Eaters, characters from "Harry Potter" who are scornful of those without pure blood.