Labour’s collapse in Scotland has left them neck and neck with the Conservatives exactly three months before the Scottish Parliamentary elections, according to a new poll.
Research by YouGov for The Times newspaper revealed the Tories have actually nudged ahead of Kezia Dugdale’s party when it comes to constituency preferences, gaining 20% compared to their rivals’ 19%.
Both are backed by one in five Scottish voters on the regional lists, seen as more crucial given the likelihood of the SNP winning the vast majority of first past the post seats.
Scotland Votes, the online seat predictor, suggested such a result would leave Labour and the Conservatives with 25 seats apiece.
It anticipated the SNP would win 69 seats, with the Liberal Democrats and Scottish Greens picking up five each.
The Tories will be further buoyed by the fact Ruth Davidson, the Scottish party’s leader, attracted positive personal poll ratings. Ms Dugdale’s remained resolutely negative with only First Minister Nicola Sturgeon faring better than Ms Davidson.
The polling took place during the week Labour unveiled plans to increase the Scottish rate of income tax by 1p across all bands in a bid to raise money and halt planned budget cuts to councils. The party has insisted the lowest paid would not lose out and be given cash back through a rebate.
Both the SNP and Conservatives rejected the plan when it was voted on during a debate on the budget on Wednesday. The Liberal Democrats proposed a tax hike a few days before Labour made its move.
A Scottish Labour spokesman said: “This week has seen a big change in Scottish politics, with Kezia Dugdale’s bold plan to use the powers we have to stop the SNP’s cuts to schools and other vital public services.
“Faced with the choice of using the powers we have to invest in the future or cutting the budget for education and local services, we choose to use our powers.
“We will go into this election with a bold plan to give everybody in Scotland a fair chance in life, so we can grow our economy and invest in the future.
“We are in no doubt about the scale of the challenge but we are confident in our vision for Scotland.”
A Scottish Conservative spokesman said: “This poll shows that across Scotland people are responding to Ruth’s pledge to hold the SNP to account – saying not to their plan for a second referendum and instead focussing on the issues that really matter.”
SNP Business Convener Derek Mackay said: “This is another very welcome poll showing that people are continuing to put their trust in the SNP’s positive and progressive vision for Scotland’s future – and are rejecting an increasingly incompetent Labour party which isn’t even regarded as a credible party of opposition, let alone a credible party of government, and which now appears to be losing the fight for second place with the Tories.
“Labour woes are continuing in the face of the party’s rank incompetence north and south of the border – now finding themselves in the unenviable position of being even less popular than the Tories in Scotland. And with their plans to shift the burden of Tory austerity onto workers by hiking taxes on the low paid, their situation is only going to get worse.”