Alex Salmond beats Iain Gray in latest popularity poll

The SNP leader remains ahead of Gray in the popularity stakes, according to Scotland on Sunday's exclusive YouGov poll.

When the sample of 1,405 Scottish adults was asked who of the two men would make the "better" First Minister, 41 per cent replied Salmond, 24 per cent said Gray and 35 per cent said they did not know.

The poll is the first to exclude the other party leaders concentrating solely on the relative popularity of the only two politicians with a realistic chance of becoming First Minister next year.

With his attack on Gray, who he described as the "invisible man" at the recent SNP conference in Perth, Salmond has already signalled that his election campaign will focus on Gray's perceived lack of personality.

The poll showed that even among Labour supporters, 21 per cent believed Salmond would make a better First Minister, with 50 per cent preferring Gray. When the responses of SNP supporters were examined, it was found that 89 per cent preferred Salmond and 2 per cent said Gray.

Despite Salmond receiving more support, the situation is not irretrievable for Gray as he heads to Oban this week for Labour's Scottish conference.

The poll also shows that Labour's lead over the SNP remains solid. Voting intention figures put Labour at 40 per cent on the Holyrood constituency vote and 36 per cent on the regional list. The SNP lags behind on 34 per cent in the constituency vote and 31 per cent on the list.

The large proportion of don't knows is encouraging for the Labour leader and the 17 percentage point difference between those who preferred Salmond to him is not insurmountable.

Gray said: "The SNP is trying to make the election into something of a personality contest - that's because they've got nothing else left. They have a track record of broken promises and there is little support for independence.

"As far as I am concerned, the next election is going to be about policy and Labour will have the policies to take us through these difficult times."

The SNP's belief that contrasting Salmond favourably with Gray will be a vote winner was backed up by an article written in this month's edition of the Scots Independent by Pete Wishart, the SNP MP for Tayside North.

Wishart acknowledged that manifestos are going to be "threadbare", because of spending constraints and urged the SNP to "get our hands dirty taking on Labour".

The change of government at Westminster is also reflected in the poll, which shows what has been predicted for some time - that a Conservative administration would lead to an upsurge in support for independence.

Of those sampled, 34 per cent said they would vote "yes" in an independence referendum, the highest since September 2008.

Independence was most popular among the elderly with 36 per cent of over-60s saying they would vote "yes" compared with 32 per cent of 18 to 24-year-olds, 32 per cent of 25 to 39-year-olds, and 35 per cent of 40 to 59-year-olds.

Breaking up the Union was favoured by a greater proportion of those categorised as working class with 38 per cent of those in the social grade C2DE supporting a "yes" vote.

Only 30 per cent of the middle class (social grade ABC1) supported independence.

The SNP's attempt to create a clear policy divide with Labour on council tax also looks an astute move at this stage.

In Perth, Salmond promised to freeze council tax for a further two years. Gray has said that Labour would end the cap on council tax.

According to the poll, 59 per cent of Scots oppose ending the council tax freeze. Of that 59 per cent, 32 per cent strongly opposed ending the freeze.

A total of 35 per cent supported ending the freeze and six per cent did not know.

n JOHN McTERNAN: PAGE 19