A former SNP leadership candidate has called for the party to "ditch unpopular policies" after a poll suggested it could lose multiple MPs to Labour.
Analysis by YouGov predicted the Nationalists could lose 23 seats to Anas Sarwar's party at the next general election, which is expected to take place in 2024.
Ash Regan, who finished third in the race to succeed Nicola Sturgeon, said today she was "deeply concerned with the potential loss of so many MPs".
The Edinburgh MSP said the SNP now needed "to rethink and reset" and offer a "robust strategy" on achieving independence.
The YouGov forecast used statistical analysis to show how a general election would play out in Scotland if held today.
The SNP won 48 seats at the last UK-wide poll in 2019 but that could fall to 27 - with 23 of the losses to Labour across the central belt.
Labour’s tally of seats in Scotland is projected to increase from just one at present to 24, according to the research which involved more than 3,500 voters north of the border.
YouGov based its research on fieldwork carried out between April 10 and May 21 – after Yousaf took over as SNP leader and Scottish First Minister.
Regan said: "I am deeply concerned with the potential loss of so many MPs.
"We must ditch unpopular policies, prioritise public service delivery and release the Yes movement to create a robust strategy which cuts a path to independence. We need to rethink and reset."
The poll followed a police investigation into SNP finances resulted in both the party’s HQ in Edinburgh and the home of Nicola Sturgeon being searched.
YouGov said the findings “suggest that repeated recent bad news stories for the SNP and its new leader, Humza Yousaf, including accusations of party mismanagement and potential criminal cases being brought against senior officials, have taken a serious toll on both the party’s popular support”.
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