Snap general election bad news for Scottish Tories and Labour, poll finds

The Conservatives could lose 10 of their 13 seats in Scotland if there is a snap UK election, according to a new YouGov poll.

The poll of Scottish voting intentions, commissioned by The Times, projected the SNP could secure 51 seats if a general election is called, 16 more than in 2017.

The Liberal Democrats were projected to win four seats, the Conservatives three and Labour would drop down to one seat.

The poll suggested Tory Alister Jack, the new Scottish secretary with a 5,600 majority, was at risk of losing his seat in the event of a snap election, while David Mundell, John Lamont and Andrew Bowie were most likely to retain their seats. 

It is the first poll since Ruth Davidson quit as Scottish Conservatives leader.

The survey found 43 per cent of Scots would vote SNP, 20 per cent Conservative, 15 per cent Labour and 12 per cent Liberal Democrat.

The Brexit Party overtook the Greens, with six per cent of votes to the Greens’ four per cent.

After Prime Minister Boris Johnson lost power of the House of Commons on Tuesday night, he announced he would table a motion for a general election later today. However, the motion will need the backing of more than two thirds of MPs.

Meanwhile, the poll found support for Scottish independence was at 49 per cent and 51 per cent against.

This is in contrast to Lord Ashcroft’s poll in August, reported by Holyrood, which found support for independence was at 46 per cent and 43 per cent against, in the days after Boris Johnson became prime minister.

The Times’ poll found the number of people who want a second vote for Scottish independence to be held in the next five years was one per cent higher those against – 45 per cent to 44 per cent.

YouGov surveyed 1,059 adults in Scotland between 30 August and 3 September.