Scottish Parliament poll: Corbyn fails to lift Scottish Labour

The election of Jeremy Corbyn as the new UK Labour leader has failed to have any impact on the SNP’s dominant standing in Scotland, a new survey has found.
Jeremy Corbyn visits Scotland for the first time after becoming leader of the Labour Party

. Picture: Lisa FergusonJeremy Corbyn visits Scotland for the first time after becoming leader of the Labour Party

. Picture: Lisa Ferguson
Jeremy Corbyn visits Scotland for the first time after becoming leader of the Labour Party . Picture: Lisa Ferguson

Labour continues to flounder 35 points behind the Nationalists in the voting intentions for next year’s Holyrood election, according to a poll by TNS today.

Labour actually fell two points to 21%, with the SNP also seeing a similar decrease but retaining a comfortable majority of 56% in the constituency vote at Holyrood.

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The poll was conducted before recent controversies over MP Michelle Thomson’s property dealings and T in the Park funding reached their height.

The Conservatives are unchanged on 12% and the Liberal Democrats are up one point at 6%.

Tom Costley, Head of TNS Scotland said: “People are still getting to know the new Labour leaders and what they stand for, so it’s not surprising there has been little immediate impact on voting intentions.

“One crumb of comfort for Labour may be that the overwhelmingly negative media commentary on Corbyn’s election appears not to have affected the party’s Scottish support, though the poll was carried out before his recent statement that he would never authorise the use of the UK’s nuclear deterrent if he became prime minister.”

The poll also failed to show any signs of a Labour revival among younger voters. The party’s support in Scotland among the 16-34 age group was only 13%, down four points on the previous month and a fifth of the SNP’s support in this age group (68%).

The poll among 1037 adults over 16 in Scotland was carried out after the election of Kezia Dugdale as leader of the Scottish Labour Party, and almost all the interviewing took place after Jeremy Corbyn became UK Labour leader.

The SNP also has a majority on the Holyrood regional list vote on 52%, with Labour on 23%. The Conservatives and Liberal Democrats unchanged on 11% and 6% respectively and the Greens on 5%, down one.

Almost half of Scots already say they are poised to vote against leaving the EU, with 47% intending to vote for the UK to remain in the EU in the promised referendum, down two points since the last time TNS asked this question in May.

Support for a British exit was 18% with 29% undecided and 5% saying they would not vote.