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The National (Scotland)
The National (Scotland)
National
Joe Sullivan

SNP and Labour neck-and-neck in Holyrood votes, poll suggests

THE SNP and Labour are neck-and-neck ahead of the next Holyrood election, a poll has suggested.

Research by Survation, commissioned by campaign group Scotland in Union, shows the SNP and Labour tied at 28% in the constituency vote among likely voters.

Labour had 25% support on the list vote, one point ahead of the SNP's 24%.

Nigel Farage's Reform UK took 9% of the constituency vote and 8% of the list vote, while the Scottish Tories were on 11% for both votes.

The Scottish Greens were found to be on 6% in the constituency vote and 9% in the list vote, while the Scottish LibDems had 9% on each.

Finally, Alba had 1% of the constituency vote, and 2% of the list vote.

For the list vote, 12% of respondents did not know how they planned to vote, while the figure was 8% for the constituency vote.

The poll surveyed 1021 Scots between August 27 and 29.

The next Holyrood election is set to take place in 2026, however John Swinney hinted last week that an early election could be held if the SNP's Budget is not passed.

The poll also asked those surveyed how they would vote at another independence referendum, however its use of a non-standard question prevent the results from being compared with other polls.

The question did not mirror the one posed in 2014, instead echoing the question asked in the Brexit referendum.

Survation asked those it surveyed, “if there was a referendum with the question, ‘Should Scotland remain part of the United Kingdom or leave the United Kingdom?’, how would you vote?”

This stands in contrast to the 2014 question, which asked: "Should Scotland be an independent country?"

Using the remain/leave language, the poll showed 59% support for staying in the UK, compared to 41% for independence among decided voters.

A pro-UK campaign group, Scotland in Union uses the alternate question in its referendum polling to skew results, which has led to its indyref publications not being considered by the British Polling Council.  

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