NEW POLL SHOWS SNP VOTE RISING AS LABOUR FALL FURTHER

NEW POLL SHOWS SNP VOTE RISING AS LABOUR FALL FURTHER

SEVEN-POINT HOLYROOD LEAD AFTER DIFFICULT DECISION

Welcoming the YouGov poll published in the Scottish Mail on Sunday - which shows a 7-point SNP lead over Labour in the Holyrood constituency vote, and a 4-point lead on the list question - marking a substantial increase since last week's poll, with the Labour vote falling, Deputy First Minister and SNP Depute Leader Nicola Sturgeon said:

“This is a hugely encouraging poll for the SNP. It shows our level of support rising from the Scottish Parliament election in 2007 when we were elected to office, and the gap with Labour growing – with a seven point lead on the constituency question and four points on the list vote.

“For a government in mid-term, in the aftermath of a difficult decision, these are excellent figures for the SNP – and disastrous for Labour and the other Opposition parties. For a Westminster election, SNP support is up 8 points and Labour are down ten.

“Even people who disagree with the Justice Secretary’s decision to release Al-Megrahi back to Libya to die respect the fact that he had the courage to face up to a difficult issue, and that his decision was made on justice grounds. It was the right decision for the right reasons, which upholds the due process of Scots Law.

“And as the government prepare to publish our third Legislative Programme, this poll also demonstrates that people like what they are getting from the SNP, and our strong track record of policy delivery. We have delivered over half of our headline manifesto commitments, with more to come in the year ahead, and substantial good news to come in the week ahead.

"We have frozen the council tax, slashed business rates, abolished bridge tolls, saved A&E units, and scrapped tuition fees; we are phasing in free prescriptions, delivering 1,000 additional police officers, and much more besides.”

ENDS

Notes:

The results of the YouGov poll for the Mail on Sunday are as follows (With changes from previous poll last week in brackets):

Holyrood Constituency Vote:

SNP - 34% (+1%)
Lab - 27% (-4%)
Tory - 16% (n/c)
LibD - 16% (n/c)
Other - 6% (+1%)

Holyrood Regional Vote:

SNP - 30% (+3%)
Lab - 26% (-2%)
Tory - 16% (-1%)
LibD - 16% (+1%)
Green - 7% (+1%)
Other - 5% (-2%)

Westminster Vote:

SNP - 26% (+1%)
Lab - 30% (-3%)
Tory - 20% (+1%)
LibD - 18% (+2%)

1183 adults were interviewed between 26th and 28th August 2009.