The SNP have this morning been put a whopping 13 points above Labour in the Scottish
Parliament race: on 45 percent and 46 percent of the vote in two separate
polls. Given that they went into this election campaign somewhere around 35 percent, this represents a huge leap giving them a near-impregnable lead in the Holyrood race. And that’s what’s worrying
them in SNP headquarters.
Salmond’s strategists, packed into a third-floor office suite behind the Scottish Parliament fear that – in the words of one senior Nationalist – “we have gone too early”. That Labour may now plausibly play the underdog card, and SNP votes may be inclined to stay at home thinking that it’s in the bag.
It doesn’t help that this is the second poll in a week to give the SNP a commanding lead over Labour. The IPSOS Mori poll for The Times last week gave the SNP an 11 percentage point lead over Labour on the first vote and a ten point lead on the regional list vote.
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