Our Politics newsletter is now daily. Join thousands of others and get the latest Scottish politics news sent straight to your inbox. Subscribe Thank you for subscribing We have more newsletters Show me See our privacy notice Invalid Email

Liberal Democrat support in Scotland remains extremely low, according to a poll.

The party, which secured 19% of the Scottish vote in the last general election, got just 3% in the latest survey by pollsters Angus Reid.

Support for UK coalition partners David Cameron and Nick Clegg is lower in Scotland than anywhere else in Britain, while Labour leader Ed Miliband enjoys the greatest support north of the border, the survey suggests.

The SNP would make large gains if a general election was held this month, taking 35% of the poll compared with 20% in the 2010 general election. But this would not be enough to beat Labour which also saw its share of the vote increase, to 44% of those polled compared with 42% in the last general election.

The Conservatives' share is slightly down, on 13% compared with nearly 17% in the general election.

Gordon Banks, Labour MP for Ochil and South Perthshire, said: "This is an excellent poll for Labour, showing a very significant lead over the SNP. And the Labour vote has increased even on our great 2010 election result."

He added: "Ed Miliband's leadership during the phone-hacking scandal has certainly caught the public eye. Ed has constantly set the agenda, whilst David Cameron's personal friendship with many of the key players in the scandal puts him behind the curve: he just doesn't get the public anger with what has beengoing on."

Although Angus Reid`s sample size was small, 161 Scottish residents from a poll of 2,002 UK adults, it is broadly in line with recent running polls by YouGov.

The average results of six polls conducted by YouGov in the last 10 days, which involved 1,194 Scottish residents, also had Labour on 44%, the SNP slightly less than Angus Reid on 28%, a better result for the Lib Dems on 7% and the Tories on 18%.

SNP MSP for South of Scotland Chic Brodie said other UK poll sub-samples in recent days, for MORI and ComRes, have put the SNP in the lead for a Westminster general election.

He said: "This is a small sample but another sensational poll indication for the SNP for a Westminster general election, and a disaster for the UK coalition parties, particularly the Lib Dems."

He added: "The poll will set alarm bells ringing in Lib Dem headquarters in Scotland. It spells out the price of the Lib Dems' negative attitude to more powers for the Scottish Parliament and how, under Willie Rennie's leadership, they have degenerated into just becoming cheerleaders for the unpopular Tories."

A Liberal Democrat spokeswoman said: "It would be ridiculous to draw any meaningful conclusions from this poll given the minuscule Scottish sample size.

"Scottish Liberal Democrats are a strong liberal voice in the Scottish Parliament and we will continue to hold the SNP Government to account to ensure the best deal for Scottish communities."



