Coalition poll: Labour and SNP link-up most popular

Published on Wednesday 30 March 2011 18:43

A governing partnership between the Nationalists and Labour is the most popular make-up of a coalition among voters, according to a YouGov poll carried out by The Scotsman.

Almost a quarter (22 per cent) of Scots say that their preferred coalition would be between the big two, with one or the other as the biggest party.

A further 9 per cent say the SNP should go it alone, while 8 per cent said that the Labour Party should form a minority government.

A fifth (20 per cent) of respondents didn't know.

However, if one of the big two did not win enough seats to go it alone, the Liberal Democrats (16 per cent) are the party that most would like to form a government with them, followed by the Greens (14 per cent).

Bookmaker Ladbrokes has now slashed the odds on the SNP winning the Holyrood election after a surge in bets for the party following the live TV debate.

Odds on an SNP win were cut from 11/4 to 7/4. Labour, who were as short as 1/12 for the election, has now drifted to 2/5. The Conservatives and Liberal Democrats both remain rank outsiders with odds of 100/1 each.

Alex Donohue of Ladbrokes said: "Labour have drifted from apparent dead-certs and all the momentum now appears to be with the SNP. It's a genuine two-horse race and should trade continue like this we expect Salmond's party to assume favouritism shortly."