SNP general election poll lead over Labour increases

THE voting gap between the SNP and Labour in the Westminster election is widening in favour of the Nationalists, a new poll suggests.

By The Newsroom Friday, 20th March 2015, 2:03 pm

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon and candidate John Nicolson on the campaign trail in Kirkintilloch. Picture: JP

Support for the SNP increased two points from February and stands at 47%, Survation found.

The research carried out for the Daily Record indicates 26% of voters will back Labour on May 7, down one point on last month’s poll.

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The Conservatives went up one point to 16%, while support for the Liberal Democrats fell by one point to 4%.

A total of 1,027 people were questioned between March 12 and 17.

Responding to the poll, Scottish Labour leader Jim Murphy said a vote for any party other than Labour risked the Tories returning to Downing Street.

He said: “The referendum was last year’s disagreement, but in May we can work together to get rid of the Tories. There is only one party across the UK that is big enough to stop the Tories being the largest party and that’s Labour.

“Now that it’s 100% certain that there won’t be a Labour and SNP coalition there’s only one way to beat the Tories. A vote for anyone other than Scottish Labour risks the Tories being the biggest party and David Cameron returning to Downing Street by accident.

“That would be a terrible outcome for Scotland but it’s what could happen if this poll is repeated on election day.”

The Survation poll also asked people if they thought they would support independence in the event of another referendum.

Results showed 45% would vote yes and 43% would vote no, with 11% undecided and 1% “would rather not say”.

Survation chief executive Damian Lyons Lowe said: “Looking at least from a top down view, the state of play in Scotland remains bleak for Labour with the SNP’s surge remaining firm since Survation’s polling indicated crossover for the parties some months before the independence referendum.

“How this plays out in terms of seats remains to be seen as a range of untested SNP candidates attempt to convert these strong national polling figures into Westminster seat gains.”

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