Nicola Sturgeon’s arrest by police investigating the SNP’s finances would seem to be a gift to her opponents and those of her party. Labour, in particular, saw the weekend begin with the resignation of Boris Johnson, the man who drubbed them so thoroughly in 2019, and ended with police questioning the woman who seized almost all their Scottish seats in 2015.
Sir Keir Starmer is certainly having a remarkable streak of good fortune, though mostly because his rivals are seemingly bent on electoral self-destruction. Even so, it is unclear whether the woes beleaguering the Scots Nats will lead them into a similar political death spiral as that engulfing the Conservatives.
While political opponents savour the SNP’s troubles, polls suggest that schadenfreude might be a little premature. Consider three polling companies that have tested Westminster voting intentions since the former SNP chief executive (and Sturgeon’s husband) Peter Murrell’s arrest in early April. (I’m discounting a fourth, Ipsos, because prior to May it last polled this question in December.)
Polls suggest that schadenfreude might be a little premature
The first was YouGov, which put the SNP on 37 per cent in mid-April, within the margin of error of the 39 per cent recorded the previous month.
