Labour’s revival has spread to Scotland with a poll showing Jeremy Corbyn’s rising popularity putting his party within touching distance of the Tories.
With two days to go before the election, figures from YouGov have Scottish Labour on 25 per cent, up six points in three weeks. There has also been a surge in popularity for Mr Corbyn. His approval rating north of the border is still in the red at minus 5, but that is a significant improvement on the rating of minus 36 he scored in the last poll.
If the findings carry through to votes, Labour will hang on to the Edinburgh South seat that it won in 2015, as well as taking Edinburgh North and Leith & East Renfrewshire from the SNP. At the beginning of the campaign Scottish Labour was languishing at 18 per cent of the popular vote and on track to lose its only MP.
The comeback has also been at the expense of the Conservatives, who surged into second place behind the SNP at the start of the campaign and were on 29 per cent of the vote three weeks ago. Ruth Davidson’s party has dropped to 26 per cent, enough to win seven seats in Scotland, but not quite the breakthrough party managers had hoped for.
One of the reasons for the change in Tory fortunes has been the plummeting personal ratings of Theresa May, who was campaigning in Edinburgh yesterday but is struggling to win over voter. Her approval rating is minus 32 in Scotland, a drop of 15 points in three weeks, giving her the worst rating of any leader in Scotland.
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The SNP vote is also down, dropping from 42 per cent to 41 per cent since the middle of May. This would give the party 46 of Scotland’s 59 seats, a loss of ten, but would still make it the comfortable winner of the election in Scotland. However, the new poll also found that support for independence has slipped and is now 43 per cent Yes to 57 per cent No, a drift of two points in favour of the Union since the 2014 referendum.
The Liberal Democrats are unchanged on 6 per cent, which would be enough to give them three seats in Scotland: Orkney & Shetland; Edinburgh West; and East Dunbartonshire.
James Kelly, campaign manager, for Scottish Labour, described the poll as encouraging. “With Labour surging in the polls across the UK, voters have a real chance to deliver a Labour government led by Jeremy Corbyn for the many, not the few,” he said.
Jackson Carlaw, a Tory MSP, said: “Every vote for Ruth Davidson’s Conservatives will be for an MP who will put public services first, and says no to another divisive referendum.”
Angus Robertson, for the SNP, said: “The gap between the SNP and the Tories is widening, and the outcome in Scotland is crucial in determining just how large a majority the Tories will get across the UK — or if they will get one at all.”