If this poll carries over to the General Election, Scottish Labour will see itself virtually wiped out.
If this poll carries over to the General Election, Scottish Labour will see itself virtually wiped out
The three declared candidates to lead Scottish Labour will this afternoon be considering the meaning of a devastating poll carried out by Ipsos Mori for the STV.
The polling, carried out during a period which saw outgoing leader at Holyrood, Johann Lamont, resign with a damaging critique of the UK-wide party, gives the SNP a huge 29-point lead when people are asked how they would vote in next year’s General Election.
Of those voters questioned in Scotland who said they are certain to vote, 52 per cent say they will vote SNP, with Labour languishing on 23 per cent. Support for the Scottish Conservatives stands at 10 per cent, with the Scottish Liberal Democrats and the Scottish Green Party both on 6 per cent.
According to the calculations by Electoral Calculus, if such a swing from Labour to the SNP was seen in every constituency the SNP would pick up 54 Westminster seats, an increase of 48 on the seats they currently hold.
Meanwhile Scottish Labour would see itself virtually wiped out, seeing their total number of seats cut from 41 at present to just 4, those being Willie Bain in Glasgow North East, Tom Clarke in Coatbridge, Chryston and Bellshill, Gordon Brown in Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath and Ian Davidson in Glasgow South West.
The Liberal Democrats would lose all but one of their current tally of 11 seats, with only Scottish secretary Alistair Carmichael surviving.
Mark Diffley, director at Ipsos MORI Scotland, said of the results:
“The poll gives a further boost to the SNP ahead of their upcoming conference and the formal announcement of Nicola Sturgeon becoming the new first Minister. At the same time it will be particularly unwelcome news for the Labour party after a bruising period since the referendum, culminating in Johann Lamont’s resignation last week. They will hope that this represents a trough in public support and that their upcoming leadership contest will allow them to begin to regain some of the support they have lost.”
With Ed Miliband due this evening to address Scottish Labour’s Gala Dinner, STV political editor Bernard Ponsonby has commented:
“This is the most dramatic poll findings ever to be published in Scotland and underlines the scale of the challenge for Labour leaders both north and south of the border.
“There are only two polls in recent memory which have generated as much surprise, the most recent during the independence referendum showing the Yes camp ahead, and before that you’d probably have to go back to 1992 and a poll for ITN which showed support for independence at 50% for the first time.
“Now it is a poll, not an election result, but what it does is to underline the scale of the challenge facing the new leader of Scottish Labour and the figures come as Ed Miliband arrives in Scotland to address a gala dinner in Glasgow.
“On these figures he has little chance of winning a UK election with his Scottish power base facing meltdown.”
Ed Jacobs is a contributing editor to Left Foot Forward
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25 Responses to “Poll signals Labour doomsday scenario in Scotland”
Asteri
The final seal for Scottish labour will be if they elect that loathsome, careerist, Blairite, Murphy as their leader – lets hope they do.
Red Priest
52% – 23% isn’t going to happen – the poll severely under-represents the Tories, among otherthings…but there is little doubt LAbour are currently in Deep, Deep Trouble ™. The entirely plausible Yougov poll tonight shaves the lead down quite a lot from Mori – but would still be catastrophic in seat terms, quite possibly handing SNP the WM balance of power. Then all bets are off.
Red Priest
Labour could have run any number of No campaigns all by themselves – frankly, they all but did in the end anyway.
Or they could have registered the deep divide that became lately apparent among their own voters and allowed their members to campaign by conscience.
They did neither. They chose the ‘Better Together’ umbrella for access to Tory money. Knowing the utter toxicity of the Tory brand in Scotland, and of Clegg’s personal toxicity. And then going all in on the Westminster flavoured ‘vow’ with Cameron and Clegg, a ‘vow’ already rendered all but meaningless as Labour retreat from any serious devolution claiming they only ever promised a timetable – as if the words home rule, devo super max and federal had never passed Gordon’s lips. And Bizarrely the integrationist McTernan/Murphy/Hothersall wing of the party think that kind of ‘gotcha suckers’ against voters is a winning strategy!
They’ve one shot left, and it’s the McColl plan. apologise like crazy. Apologise for project fear, for bedding with the tories, for the NHS stories. Self abase till it hurts, then do it some more. And then do a volte face and go for very serious devo-max. Show utter seriousness about accepting Holyrood is now the centre of the action going forward, and act accordingly. That’ll stop the bleeding, and may even have them back in holyrood with a fair wind by 2020.
But they won’t, because Johann was spot on – it’s a branch office, whose sole job is to provide lobby fodder for Westminster Labour, who are in denial about what has really happened.
I’d bring the popcorn, if I were you. This is gonna get entertaining.
Dave Roberts
Could you explain that Social Democracy thing a little.
Dave Roberts
You are obviously mad.