Scottish election 2016: New Survation poll shows Nicola Sturgeon’s SNP heading for a big victory while Ruth Davidson’s Tories struggle to gain ground
A new poll out today shows the SNP commanding a dominant lead going into of May's Scottish elections, with the party's leader, Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, the only major politician that Scottish voters view favourably.
According to the latest figures from Survation, the SNP "continue to dominate the political landscape in Scotland", with 53 per cent of voters saying they intend to back the SNP in May's Holyrood elections. Labour trailed by more than 30 points, with just 22 per cent of voters saying they intended to support the party in May.
The Conservatives, meanwhile, recorded only 16 per cent of the vote, unchanged from a Survation poll the previous month – a blow to Scottish Tory leader Ruth Davidson, who said earlier this month that she was ready to lead the opposition in Scottish parliament.
Survation also asked voters to what extent they felt favourably or unfavourably towards multiple UK and Scottish political leaders, with only Sturgeon securing a "net positive" favourability rating, with more voters feeling favourably towards her than unfavourably.
Sturgeon recorded a positive net favourability rating of +25 per cent, with the next highly-ranked politician being the co-convenor of the Scottish Green Party, Patrick Harvie, with a -1 per cent rate.
Prime Minister David Cameron, however, had a negative net favourability rating of -35 per cent, only slightly bested by Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, with a rating of -19 per cent.
And despite her party's failure to gain ground, Ruth Davidson was viewed slightly more favourably than Scottish Labour leader Kezia Dougdale. Davidson had a negative net favourability rating of -6, compared to Dugdale's -7.