Labour has lost its lead over the SNP at Westminster in the wake of Gordon Brown’s leadership
crisis, a new opinion poll has found.
A slump in Labour support from 40% at the last Westminster election to 28%, down four points
from April, would see the party lose nearly a third of its 41 Scottish MPs, with Scottish secretary Jim Murphy and Scotland
Office minister Ann McKechin struggling to hold their seats.
The YouGov poll of more than 1,000 Scottish voters found support for the SNP has almost doubled
from 18% to 31% since 2005, up one point from April. But the Conservatives are toiling on 17%, down four points from April
and on course to take only three of Scotland’s 59 seats.
SNP business convener Angus Robertson said:
“This is a fantastic poll result for the SNP. For the first time ever, we are in the
lead for Westminster, Holyrood and the European Parliament all at the same time, and on the back of last week's historic election
victory.
“It shows that the people have confidence in the Scottish Government and its assured
performance in stark contrast to the chaos, infighting and meltdown at the heart of Gordon Brown ’s Downing Street.
“Scottish Labour MPs will be looking at these results fearfully, with the party
set to lose more than a third of its MPs, while the Tories’ talk of making inroads is looking more like a dead-end.
Lib/Dem support has also collapsed, showing all the Calman parties all in trouble.
“Increasingly, it looks as though the SNP may well hold the balance of power at Westminster,
and that the Tories and David Cameron will have no mandate in Scotland, regardless of how they perform elsewhere.
“With Labour and the Tories making no secret that they plan to make damaging cuts to
Scottish spending, people know that SNP success at the General Election can stop these cuts completely and ensure we are well
placed to recover strongly from the recession.
“SNP success is taking Scotland forward, and we will continue to make the case for independence
and equality as the best future for our nation.”
The Sunday Times YouGov survey results:
Sample Size: 1048
Fieldwork: 2nd - 4th June 2009
- SNP 31% (up from 18% in 2005)
- Labour 28% (down from 40% in 2005)
- Conservative 17% (up from 16% in 2005)
- Lib/Dem 16% (down from 23% in 2005)
snp.org
