LABOUR RUNNING SCARED AS POLL SHOWS COMMANDING LEAD FOR SNP

LABOUR RUNNING SCARED AS POLL SHOWS COMMANDING LEAD FOR SNP,.

SNP Westminster Leader Angus Robertson MP has welcomed the results of an Ipsos-MORI in Holyrood Magazine which gives the party a commanding lead over Labour in both Holyrood and Westminster elections. The survey of voting intentions published in this week’s Holyrood Magazine puts the SNP 7 points ahead of Labour for Holyrood and two points ahead for Westminster. However when the certainty to vote is taken into account the SNP’s lead increases further to 13 points for Holyrood and six points for Westminster. If this result was to be replicated across the country a number of senior Labour MPs would face electoral defeat, including Chancellor Alistair Darling and ex-Defence Secretary Des Browne. Both Scotland Office Ministers - Jim Murphy and Ann McKechin – would also lose their seats. If the results were replicated at a Westminster election the SNP would gain 19 seats to secure the biggest share of Scottish seats in the Commons, with a swing of nearly 14% from Labour. The poll comes as a Sunday newspaper reports senior Scottish Labour figures – including Des Browne - are seeking Scottish Parliament seats. It also comes as leading Scots novelist Iain Banks is reported as saying he is in favour of independence, following a week in which Scots motor racing legend Sir Jackie Stewart backed the SNP Government’s proposals for an independence referendum. Commenting, Mr Robertson said: “This is a great result for the SNP. Not only does it demonstrate that the SNP Government is winning the debate in Holyrood but also building support for sending SNP MPs to fight Scotland's corner in Westminster. It also shows our vote is far more motivated than Labour's. “Scottish Labour MPs will be looking at these results fearfully as it confirms what many have clearly been thinking for some time – there is no such thing as a safe Labour seat anymore. “But to assume they will be returned to Holyrood as a matter of course is a major mistake. This poll also shows that voters across Scotland believe the SNP is the best party to stand up for their interests in the Scottish Parliament. “Labour already lost the right to govern Scotland when the SNP won the 2007 Holyrood election. A result like this at Westminster would merely underline that collapse in support for Labour, and would help advance the case for independence.”

Notes:

1. If replicated across the Scotland, the SNP and the Conservatives would
make the following gains:

SNP Westminster gains

Dunfermline and West Fife - Willie Rennie - LAB
Dundee West - James McGovern - LAB
Kilmarnock and Loudoun - Des Browne - LAB
Midlothian - David Hamilton - LAB
Linlithgow and East Falkirk - Michael Connarty - LAB
Lanark and Hamilton East - Jimmy Hood - LAB
Aberdeen North - Frank Doran - LAB
Paisley and Renfrewshire North - James Sheridan - LAB
Glasgow North - Ann McKechin - LAB
Edinburgh East - Gavin Strang - LAB
Ayrshire North and Arran - Katy Clark - LAB
East Lothian - Anne Moffat - LAB
Inverness Nairn Badenoch and Strathspey - Danny Alexander - LIB
Aberdeen South - Anne Begg - LAB
Edinburgh South West - Alistair Darling - LAB
Edinburgh North and Leith - Mark Lazarowicz - LAB
Stirling - Anne McGuire - LAB
Ochil and South Perthshire - Gordon Banks - LAB
Argyll and Bute - Alan Reid - LIB

Conservative Westminster gains

Edinburgh South - Nigel Griffiths - LAB
Renfrewshire East - Jim Murphy - LAB
Dumfries and Galloway - Russell Brown - LAB

2. Iain Banks, in an interview published in today’s Sunday Times, says he
is ready to campaign for independence which, he says, offers the “chance
to have a more decent society in Scotland”.