No Surprise



The Times reports that a recent opinion poll conducted by Survation suggests that 35% of Scots want to see the SNP help to govern the Westminster Parliament.

Which is not really surprising when you a stop and think that the SNP still enjoy a reputation for competence and good government after eight years of running the Scottish Parliament, and are still ahead in every opinion poll for elections to Holyrood and Westminster.

Given the likelihood of another 'hung' parliament at Westminster after the May 20015 general election, the voters seem to like the idea of having a contingent of MPs who will stand up for Scotland's interests instead of being used as voting fodder by Ed Miliband and the Labour Party.   

Scottish voters want SNP to help Labour govern Britain


Alex Salmond James Glossop / The Times

By Lindsay McIntosh - The Times

Scottish voters want the next government to be a Labour-SNP coalition, according to a poll which raises the prospect of Alex Salmond being installed as deputy prime minister.

The research shows that a power-sharing deal between the two parties was the most popular post-election scenario among those north of the border.

Nicola Sturgeon, the SNP leader, has already outlined the price she would extract from Ed Miliband for such an outcome. She has identified the removal of the Trident nuclear weapons system from the Clyde as a “red line issue”.

Ms Sturgeon has also indicated that she would not wish a formal coalition with Mr Miliband but would rather back Labour in a confidence-and-supply arrangement. The Labour leader failed to rule out the prospect of a deal in an interview earlier this month.

The poll, by Survation for the Daily Record,suggested that 35 per cent of Scottish voters wanted to see an agreement between the parties after May 7. A Labour majority was second choice on 20 per cent, followed by a Conservative majority on 14 per cent.

The survey also found that the SNP was still on track to increase its number of seats, although Jim Murphy, the Scottish Labour leader, was making some progress in averting his party’s predicted meltdown. The findings back others from Panelbase at the weekend.

Survation found that 46 per cent of Scots planned to support the nationalists, down two points from last month. Backing for Labour rose by two points to 26 per cent. The 20-point gap translates into 52 SNP seats compared with just six Labour seats.

The pollsters put the Liberal Democrats on 7 per cent — giving them one seat — and the Tories on 14 per cent, wiping them out completely.

Stewart Hosie, an SNP MP and deputy leader, said it was “very encouraging” but that the party was taking nothing for granted. He said: “What is becoming increasingly clear is that Scots do not have to vote Labour to get rid of the Tories — the SNP will never put the Tories into government.

“Left to their own devices, Labour would continue with austerity. With a strong group of SNP MPs holding the balance of power at Westminster, we can ensure that Scotland’s voice is heard and use our influence positively to end austerity economics, free Scotland of Trident nuclear weapons, and secure the powers we need to build a fairer, more prosperous country.”

Mr Murphy said that polls were there to be “confounded and defeated”. He said “I know we’ve got a lot of work still to do but I’m confident the nearer we get to the UK election that Scots — whether they’re Labour voters, SNP voters, Green voters — know that this decision is about how we can best get rid of David Cameron from Downing Street. So I’m determined that the Scottish Labour Party has this fresh start and that we’re stronger. I would just say to some of the people thinking about voting SNP that it’s an effective way of protesting against the Tories but it doesn’t replace them.”

On the prospect of a Labour-SNP coalition, he added: “Political parties always have to work together. That happens in councils across Scotland, but councils are different from the UK parliament. I’m not planning for, not expecting and not wanting, a coalition with anyone, let alone the SNP.”

The Panelbase poll put his party on 31 per cent — a rise of three points since November. The SNP was on 41 per cent, giving a much tighter gap than Survation. Labour sources suggested that the findings showed the “fresh start” signalled by Mr Murphy’s election at the end of last year was starting to pay dividends.

The Survation research also shows that, despite Scots rejecting its core policy of independence last September, the SNP is set to return for a third term in power at Holyrood. When the pollsters asked about next year’s Scottish parliament election, they found that 50 per cent of Scots intended to use their constituency vote to back the nationalists, and only 26 per cent planned to support Labour.

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