SNP support rises again

The surge in support for the SNP since the referendum on independence appears to be continuing, after a new poll on Holyrood voting intentions by TNS puts the party on 60 per cent of the constituency vote.

In May’s General Election the party won 50 per cent of the votes, which saw them secure all but three of the seats in Scotland.

However under Scotland’s additional member electoral system, each voter also casts a ballot for a political party in their region. The party vote is used to allocate “list” MSPs to balance out under-representation of parties by the first-past-the-post constituency poll.

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Of the 67 per cent who said they were certain to vote in the Scottish Parliament election next year, 60 per cent said they’d vote SNP in the first vote, and 50 per cent backed the party in the regional list vote.

Labour is at 19 per cent of both the constituency vote and the regional vote, the Conservatives at 15 and 14 respectively, and the Liberal Democrats down to just three percent of the constituency vote.

The poll results suggest Green and Liberal Democrat voters have low expectations of constituency votes, but poll higher in the regional list preferences at 10 and five per cent respectively.

Tom Costley, head of TNS Scotland, said: “Clearly there is a long way to go until the Scottish Parliament elections, so it is too early to tell whether the rise in support for the SNP represents a continuing trend, or whether it reflects a “honeymoon” period with the party’s new Westminster MPs.”

TNS polled 1031 adults in Scotland aged 16 and over. The survey also showed 49 per cent of Scots back remaining in the EU, and 43 per cent thought the result of the General Election had made Scottish independence more likely.