The most dramatic Holyrood poll in nearly a decade gives a narrow Labour lead, the first time anyone bar the SNP has led a poll since the Independence Referendum. Unlike the last R&W, Lib Dem figures are much less nonsensical, and the Greens project to their best ever seat tally.
YouGov join Survation in going against trend with a projected SNP-Green majority, but only just. Meanwhile, a significant plurality of voters think Nicola Sturgeon should be suspended from the SNP whilst investigations into party finances are ongoing.
The fourth poll to emerge after Humza Yousaf takes office is the only one that’ll bring him any cheer, suggesting an easy continuation for the current SNP-Green government. Though that’s an outlier for Holyrood, Westminster and Independence figures align closely with other pollsters.
The second entry in what is meant to be a monthly tracker raises my eyebrow so far it’s practically stratospheric, with an extremely dubious poll suggesting the biggest winners from SNP woes are… the Lib Dems? Nobody else is finding this, behave.
A second poll showing significant gains for Labour, and indeed the best poll for any opposition party since before the independence referendum, brings further bad news for the new First Minister. Yet, again, Independence support remains steady albeit still in a slight minority.
The first poll conducted after Humza Yousaf took office as First Minister suggests the SNP losing a significant chunk of their constituencies, including his own, with only the second Pro-Union majority at Holyrood of the term so far. Independence support holds up better though it remains in the minority.
As the party that has led the government for my entire adult life heads for a generational changing of the guard, I weigh up the possibilities as to whether this is simply the end of an era, or whether it’s the beginning of the end for the SNP government.
The Conservatives sweep to a solid victory in what had last year been a tight race against the SNP, whilst the Greens take a much heavier hit than they should be happy with in one of their core wards.
YouGov buck some recent trends by showing a marginally improved position for the SNP versus their last poll, and a comfortable majority for their government with the Greens, who also hit a record Westminster figure. Labour nonetheless continue to poll well, whilst the Union has a solid lead on the constitutional question.
Further sliding for the SNP and weak figures for Greens suggest one of the narrowest leads for their government of the term so far, whilst Labour continue to poll strongly relative to recent results, and the constitutional question resets to 2014.
