It is a testament to the extraordinary changes underway in Scottish politics that the latest YouGov poll showing the Labour party winning 11 seats north of the border is viewed as a setback. Even six months ago, such findings would have been welcomed with jubilation at the party’s Glasgow headquarters as evidence that voters were, finally, coming back to Labour from the SNP.
Even if voters are not necessarily coming back to Labour in the numbers some might have dared hope, people in Scotland have few reasons to turn out for the SNP either.
As it is, other recent polls have been far more positive for Sir Keir Starmer’s party, suggesting they could win as many as 22 seats in Scotland, up from one currently, and potentially even overtake the SNP as the largest party. It is in that context that YouGov’s recent findings – that the SNP’s vote share has improved to 38 per cent while Labour’s has fallen to 27 per cent – came as a disappointment.
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