Even Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership victory hasn’t improved Labour’s fortunes in Scotland, according to new poll
Jeremy Corbyn’s electoral success had led to optimism that Labour can regain some ground in Scotland that was lost in the 2015 General Election.
A new poll, however, has suggested that the election of the new leaders of UK and Scottish Labour has had no immediate impact “on the standing of the party in Scotland, where it remains 35 percentage points behind the Scottish National Party”.
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Labour won 41 seats in 2010 in Scotland, but just one in 2015, partly due to the rise of nationalism in Scotland, but also a response to Labour’s leadership and the way the party campaigned alongside the Conservatives as part of the Better Together campaign.
The TNS poll of 1,037 adults over 16 in Scotland shows that since the General Election, the SNP has maintained a strong lead, reduced by just four per cent, while Labour’s fortunes have risen by just two per cent.
Between August and September, both parties' popularity fell by two per cent.
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Meanwhile, the Conservatives had seen their popularity reduce even further, to 12 per cent, and the Liberal Democrats have doubled their support from three per cent to six per cent.
Tom Costley, head of TNS Scotland said:
The poll shows that the SNP remains more successful than Labour in retaining the loyalty of its voters.
Among those who voted in the general election and who expressed a preference in the survey, 97 per cent of those who voted SNP at the general election intend to back the party for the Holyrood election next year, against 85 per cent of those who voted Labour intending to do so again in May.