GENERAL ELECTION TWO-HORSE RACE BETWEEN SNP AND LABOUR IN SCOTLAND

GENERAL ELECTION TWO-HORSE RACE BETWEEN SNP AND LABOUR IN SCOTLAND

TORY HYPE REVEALS THEIR WEAKNESS

Commenting on David Mundell's predictions of Tory success in Scotland in
the General Election, Scottish National Party Depute Leader and Deputy
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said:

"The Tories will remain in the doldrums in Scottish politics because they
continue to oppose the aspirations of the people of Scotland.

"The Tories' own misplaced hype exposes their fatal weakness, because they
fail to understand that Scottish issues include securing the full powers
needed to fight recession, to oppose the savage cuts in Scotland's budget
planned by both the Tories and Labour, and to scrap the obscene £100
billion Trident nuclear weapons programme that both the Tories and Labour
want to dump on the Clyde.

"The reality is that the General Election in Scotland will be a two-horse
race between the SNP and Labour - and the most recent Scottish poll for
Westminster put the SNP ahead, at 34 per cent, compared to 32 per cent for
Labour, 15 per cent for the Tories, and 12 per cent for the Lib Dems.

"And an analysis of all elections held throughout 2009 - totalling nearly
1 million votes from the European Parliament, and Westminster and local
by-elections - showed that the SNP secured the most votes of any party in
Scotland, achieving a 10 per cent swing from Labour on a 4-way party
split.

"The SNP is governing for the people, and that is why we continue to win
support across Scotland.

"The real fight in 2010 is not the phoney war between Labour and Tory - the
tweedledum and tweedledee of politics. The real fight is for Scotland,
and to make the coming decade Scotland's decade."


1. The Ipsos/MORI poll for a Westminster election was:

SNP: 34%
Labour: 32%
Tories: 15%
Lib Dems: 12%

Sample: 1,009
Fieldwork dates: 19th November to 23rd November 2009

2. Analysis of all elections held throughout 2009 - totalling nearly 1
million votes from the European Parliament and Westminster and local
by-elections - has shown that the SNP secured the most votes of any party
in Scotland and enjoyed a 10% swing from Labour on a 4-way party split.

The cumulative votes for all 4 main parties in all election throughout the
length
and breadth of Scotland was as follows.

Party: Votes - % (% Change from 2007)

SNP: 323,394 - 36% (+12%)
Labour: 245,047 - 27% (-8%)
Tory: 203,443 - 22% (-2%)
LibDem: 134,188 - 15% (-2%)

This equals a 10% swing from Labour to the SNP on the basis of the previous
elections and sets the SNP up well for the approaching Westminster elections.