Scottish Labour Handed Polling Boost

6 June 2017, 06:13

Labour has gained ground in Scotland in the final stretch of General Election campaigning, according to the latest opinion poll.

Kezia Dugdale's party has 25% of the vote, behind the Tories on 26% and the SNP on 43%, the YouGov survey indicates.

The findings come as UK-wide polling suggests Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn is closing the gap with Prime Minister Theresa May ahead of Thursday's ballot.

The poll of 1,093 people conducted between June 1 and 5 puts Scottish Labour up by six points on the last YouGov survey in May, with the Tories down three points and the SNP down one point.

The results also mirror recent Ipsos Mori findings, which put support for Labour and the Tories neck-and-neck on 25% each, behind the SNP on 43%.

Among the other parties, YouGov found support for the Lib Dems at 6% and the Greens at 1%.

When the results are put into the ScotlandVotes seat predictor by Weber Shandwick, they indicate the SNP could lose as many as 10 constituencies, falling from the 56 it won in 2015 to 46.

The predictor sees the Tories rise from one to seven seats, and both Labour the Lib Dems from one to three, although it assumes a uniform swing to make the projections.

Approval ratings for the party leaders indicate Mrs May is more unpopular in Scotland than Mr Corbyn, with the former scoring a satisfaction rating of -32 and the latter -5.

Mrs May saw her rating plummet by 15 points on the previous YouGov poll in May while Mr Corbyn saw his rating rise by 31 points.

Meanwhile, the poll found support for independence at 43%, with 57% backing a No vote if another referendum were to take place.

Scottish Labour General Election campaign manager James Kelly said: ''This is yet another encouraging poll which shows that increasing numbers of Scots know the only way to defeat the SNP in the majority of seats in Scotland is to vote Labour on June 8.

''With Labour surging in the polls across the UK, voters have a real chance to deliver a Labour government led by Jeremy Corbyn for the many, not the few.''

Tory deputy leader Jackson Carlaw said: ''Once again this poll shows that the Scottish Conservatives are best-placed to take the fight to the SNP at this election.

''With Nicola Sturgeon ramping up the prospect of a deal with Labour, and Jeremy Corbyn saying he's 'absolutely fine' with another referendum, voters know there is only one party you can trust on the union.''