THE Labour Party’s chances of forming a majority government at Westminster are at risk after a poll suggested that support for the party in Scotland is drifting back towards the SNP.
A YouGov poll gave the SNP an 11-point advantage in a reversal of the trend which has seen Labour gain ground in recent months.
According to the poll, support for the SNP at the next General Election stood at 38%, an increase of two points since August.
However, backing for Labour fell five points to 27%.
Such a result would see the SNP winning 39 seats and Labour 11 (a loss of six for the SNP and a gain of 10 for Labour).
While still a significant gain for the Labour Party in Scotland, who currently have just one MP, earlier surveys suggested the party could be course to win 22 seats with the SNP falling to 26.
Polling expert Sir John Curtice told The Times that Labour continued to face challenging circumstances in Scotland.
He said: “It needs to be remembered that Labour is fighting on two flanks — with the Conservatives for Unionist voters and with the SNP for Yes supporters — and maintaining that balancing act could well prove far from straightforward as the UK election approaches,” he said.
“The SNP will take some cheer from the widening of its lead over Labour.
"However, at 38% the party’s support is still some four to five points below what it was enjoying before the resignation of Nicola Sturgeon.
"Regaining the momentum that it lost in the wake of Ms Sturgeon’s exit still remains a challenge for the party.”
The polling also found that the Tories would lose two constituencies in Scotland, returning just 4 MPs. The LibDems were on course to win five seats – an increase of one since the last General Election.
However, Curtice said that the shift in voting recorded by the poll would still not be enough for the SNP to win the Rutherglen and Hamilton West by-election on October 5.
It comes after the SNP’s conference motion on independence strategy was published.
Under the motion put forward by First Minister Humza Yousaf, a majority of seats in the General Election would be taken as a mandate to “begin immediate negotiations with the UK government to give democratic effect to Scotland becoming an independent country”.
YouGov surveyed 1103 people aged 16 and over in Scotland between September 8 - 13.
