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Scottish Labour have pulled ahead of the Tories and are set to unseat a handful of SNP MPs, according to an election day poll for the Daily Record.

But the Scottish Conservatives are heading for their best election result in a generation as voters in rural areas turn away from the Nationalists.

A Jeremy Corbyn-inspired surge could see Labour win back former heartland seats just two years after they were nearly wiped out by an SNP landslide.

Polling expert Professor John Curtice said: “The Conservatives’ hopes of establishing themselves at this election as the unchallenged principal party of Unionism look as though they could be dashed.

“A last-minute surge in support for Labour, mirroring a similar development south of the Border, means that Ruth Davidson’s party could come third in votes, if not necessarily in seats.

“However, Labour is particularly reliant on the support of younger voters who may prove less likely to make it to the polling station.”

Survation polled 1001 Scots by phone during the last 36 hours of the campaign and found support for the SNP had slipped dramatically since their 2015 high watermark.

Nicola Sturgeon’s party were on 39 per cent, down from the 50 per cent figure that saw them win 56 of Scotland’s 59 Westminster seats.

The poll predicts 29 per cent of Scots will vote Labour today – just months after their ratings fell to 15 per cent north of the Border.

The Tories are on 26 per cent and the Lib Dems on six per cent.

Curtice said if there was a uniform swing across the country, this would see the SNP holding 43 of their seats, down 13 from 2015.

The Tories would win seven seats, Labour six and the Lib Dems three. The three unionist parties won one seat each in 2015.

(Image: Daily Record)

The poll also suggested support for independence has dropped.

It found if there was another referendum today, 61 per cent of Scots would vote No – up from the 55 per cent figure that won the 2014 referendum.

Curtice, professor of politics at Strathclyde University, said Sturgeon will be worried support for both her party and independence are waning despite being the clear winner of the election.

He said: “Although the SNP should still dominate Scottish representation at Westminster, the party will be concerned that their vote might have eased in the final days of the campaign.

“Little more than two-thirds of those who voted for independence in 2014 say they will vote for the SNP, not least perhaps because around one in five of those who voted Yes now say they would back No.

“Such an outcome would represent a difficult backdrop against which to try to launch a second independence referendum.

“Scotland’s election was meant to be a battle royal between Ruth Davidson and Nicola Sturgeon.

“But it looks as though Jeremy Corbyn has a chance of spoiling their show.”

Scottish Labour election campaign manager James Kelly last night welcomed the findings.

He said: “As polling stations across Scotland open, this shows that increasing numbers of voters are swinging to Labour as this campaign draws to a close.

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“Scotland could be key to the delivery of a Labour government for the many, not the few. But we will only get that government if people get out today and vote Labour. A vote for the SNP will just let Theresa May back in.”

But SNP depute leader Angus Robertson warned: “Labour can’t win the election in Scotland – and a vote for them risks letting a Tory MP in through the back door.

“Today, voters across Scotland have an opportunity to stand up for Scotland’s schools, hospitals, public services, pensioners and jobs by rejecting the Tories’ extreme and dangerous plans.

“Now more than ever, it is vital to have strong SNP voices standing up for Scotland at Westminster.”

Survation’s sophisticated polling method pushed undecided voters into giving a voting intention in the hope of getting a more accurate impression of what will happen today.