SNP open up nine point lead over Labour
The Scottish National Party has increased its lead over Labour in voting intention for the Scottish Parliament elections in our latest poll for STV News.
The SNP has increased its lead over Labour in voting intention for the Scottish Parliament elections in our latest poll for STV News.
Among those certain to vote in an immediate Holyrood election, 38% would vote for the SNP, up 2 points on our previous poll in December, while 29% would vote for Labour, down five points since December. The Conservatives and Liberal Democrats both increased their share by two points since December and are now on 17% and 9% respectively.
Satisfaction with all party leaders measured in the poll has fallen since December. Alex Salmond’s net satisfaction rating (the proportion who are satisfied minus the proportion who are dissatisfied) is now -2, down 9 points since December, while Labour Leader Johann Lamont’s rating is now +6, down 3 points since September. Scottish Conservative Leader Ruth Davidson is on -2, down 4 points, Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Willie Rennie is on -12, down 7 points. Scottish Green Party leader Patrick Harvie remains popular on +9, down 4 points since December, though half of respondents felt unable to rate him.
As with our December 2013 poll, the Deputy First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon, has the highest satisfaction ratings of all politicians measured. Almost half of voters (48%) are satisfied with the job she is doing, compared to 39% who are dissatisfied, a net score of +9. In comparison, the leader of the Better Together campaign, Alastair Darling, has a net rating of -4 with 38% satisfied and 42% dissatisfied with the job he is doing.
Mark Diffley, Director at Ipsos Scotland said:
‘This poll is good news for the SNP as it increases its lead over Labour in voting intention to the Scottish Parliament. After nearly seven years in government the party would be well placed to win if an election were being held now. It appears that the party remains popular with voters despite the ‘Yes’ campaign currently trailing in terms of voting intention for the referendum."
Technical note:
- This presents the topline results from Scotland
- Results are based on a survey of 1,001 respondents (adults aged 16+) conducted by telephone
- Fieldwork dates: 20 - 25 February 2014
- Data are weight by: age, sex and working status using census data; tenure using SHS data; and public-private sector employment using Scottish Government Quarterly Public Sector Employment series data
- Where results do not sum to 100%, this may be due to computer rounding, multiple responses, or the exclusion of “don’t know” categories
- Results are based on all respondents (1,001) unless otherwise stated
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