 | 'First Minister Alex Salmond is more popular among Labour voters than Wendy Alexander, and more popular among Lib Dem voters than Nicol Stephen.' YouGov poll, 7 th October 2007. |  |
| 'First Minister Alex Salmond is more popular among Labour voters than Wendy Alexander, and more popular among Lib Dem voters than Nicol Stephen.' YouGov poll, 7 th October 2007. | |
The Scottish National Party have released the findings of a new YouGov poll commissioned by the party, which shows that the people of Scotland prefer the SNP Scottish Government to the UK Labour government by a huge margin of 5 to 1.
Commenting the SNP's Business Convener Mr Angus Robertson MP said:
"This sensational poll shows that the people of Scotland prefer the SNP government in Scotland over the Labour government in London by an overwhelming margin of 5 to 1.
"Even a majority of Labour voters prefer the Scottish Government to Gordon Brown's beleaguered administration.
"These figures are of huge significance. It is clear that the minority SNP government is thriving and delivering for the people, while the London Labour government is sinking fast in a sea of financial sleaze and internecine warfare."
ENDS
Notes:
The poll question and results were as follows:
Thinking about the performance of the Scottish Government and the UK Government which one do you think is doing a better job?
| Scottish Government: | 54% |
| UK Government: | 11% |
| Neither: | 27% |
| DK: | 8% |
The breakdown for Labour voters was:
| Scottish Government: | 34% |
| UK Government: | 30% |
SNP Deputy Leader Ms Nicola Sturgeon MSP has commented on polling figures the Scottish National Party released today [Monday], and commissioned from YouGov, showing high support for the SNP Scottish Government and the First Minister with Alex Salmond twice as popular as Gordon Brown.
Commenting on the poll figures Ms Sturgeon said:
"These poll figures confirm the historic shift in Scottish opinion that has taken place this year. And the mood of optimism sweeping Scotland is continuing apace the Scottish Government's approval ratings are still on the rise.
"Alex Salmond is more than twice as popular as Gordon Brown in terms of who is doing the best job and twice as popular than the other Scottish party leaders added together.
"Far more Labour and Lib Dem voters prefer the leadership of Alex Salmond than their own party leaders! And this is before the full extent of Labour's funding crisis became apparent.
"Voters are telling us that they have had enough of sleazy Labour, and are now backing the successful SNP government and our positive policy programme."
ENDS
Notes:
1. The SNP has been in government in Scotland for just over 6 months. How do you think the SNP Government has fared so far:
| Well: | 63% |
| Badly: | 26% |
| Don't know: | 12% |
Among Tory voters it is 56% well to 32% badly; among Labour voters 52% to 38%; and among Lib Dem voters 64% to 32%.
The last time YouGov polled on Scottish Government satisfaction ratings, 60% of Scots thought it was doing a good job, and 27% a bad job (1-4 October) so approval for the Scottish Government is actually INCREASING six months into government.
2. Thinking about the performance of Gordon Brown as Prime Minister and Alex Salmond as First Minister of Scotland, which one do you think is doing a better job?
| Alex Salmond: | 50% |
| Gordon Brown: | 22% |
| Neither: | 21% |
| Don't know: | 7% |
3. Thinking about the performances of the political party leaders since the Scottish election in May, who has impressed you most?
| Alex Salmond, SNP: | 46% |
| Wendy Alexander, Labour: | 10% |
| Annabel Goldie, Conservative: | 9% |
| Nicol Stephen, Lib Dem: | 4% |
| Don't know: | 31% |
The poll was conducted before the full extent of Labour's leadership crisis in Scotland became apparent.
Among Labour voters, Alex Salmond is backed by 34% - well ahead of Wendy Alexander at just 24%.
Among Lib Dem voters, Alex Salmond is backed by 39% - more than three-times the 12% who favour Nicol Stephen!
Among Tory voters, Annabel Goldie only just shades Alex Salmond by 31% to 27%.
YouGov poll commissioned by the SNP, sample size: 1,111, fieldwork: 28-30 November 2007
SNP Business Convenor Angus Robertson MP today published an analysis of by-election results since the May 2007 elections which show the SNP 14% ahead of the Labour party. The figures, from by-elections in Aberdeen, Helensburgh and Dundee show a commanding lead for the SNP with 35% of the vote across all three by elections compared to only 21% for the Labour party.
This analysis follows the Scottish breakdowns of the latest YouGov polls by the Times and Channel 4 which, on small samples (200), show a 6-7% lead for the SNP over the Labour party.
Commenting on the results SNP Business Convenor Angus Robertson MP said:
"The SNP is continuing to win support across the country with our positive commitment to deliver a healthier, wealthier and greener Scotland.
"As the by-election results show people are responding enthusiastically to the actions of the SNP Government from the removal of bridge tolls to cutting small business rates, scrapping prescription charges and the historic council tax freeze.
"This week's by-election in Dundee, where the SNP won 49% of the vote to Labour's 34% shows that the negative tactics of Labour and the Lib Dems, criticising the SNP Government, attacking the council tax freeze and the historic agreement with local authorities are backfiring badly.
"It is also very unusual and enormously encouraging for the SNP to be outpolling Labour in Westminster voting intentions, albeit the sample sizes in Scotland of the two polls are small, but they reflect the results of real elections in Scottish local government.
"As the Labour Government at Westminster lurches from crisis to crisis and the Lib Dems slip even further off the political radar it is clear that people across Scotland welcome the positive steps being taken by the SNP."
ENDS
Notes to Editors:
1. The results of all three by-elections combined are as follows
RESULTS OF BY-ELECTIONS POST MAY 2007
| Party | Votes | % |
| SNP | 3236 | 35% |
| Labour | 1913 | 21% |
| Tory | 1602 | 17% |
| LibDem | 1770 | 19% |
| Other | 656 | 7% |
a. Midstocket/Rosemount (Aberdeen) in August; SNP gain seat from Tory; Moved from second place in 1st preference votes to first place; 4% increase in vote.
b. Helensburgh & Lomond South (Argyll & Bute Council, Dumbarton Constituency - Holyrood) in October; LibDems gain seat from Independent.
c. Lochee (Dundee) in November; SNP hold; 2% increase in vote; Nicol Stephen visited 5 times yet the Lib Dems only managed 11%; Lochee has historically been viewed as a Labour stronghold; Lochee voters received a sustained (and failing) assault by the opposition on the budget and SNP policies.
2. Scottish samples from latest YouGov polls.
YouGov poll for Channel 4, 21-22 November, Scottish sample 143.
| Party | Votes |
| SNP | 36% |
| Lab | 30% |
| Con | 19% |
| Lib | 11% |
This finding was also reflected in the last YouGov poll for the Times, 14-16 November, Scottish sample 182, which put SNP support at 35% and Labour at 28%.
We recognise that the Scottish samples of UK polls are small, but nonetheless they do support the analysis of local government by-elections, including the SNP's victory in Dundee last Thursday.
The SNP government's honeymoon with voters is still going strong after nearly seven months, a poll has suggested.
Nearly two thirds of voters - 63% - think the Scottish Government has fared well while only 26% think it is fared badly, according to the SNP-commissioned poll.
This is an increase on a similar poll a month ago when the figures were 60% and 27%, the party said.
Alex Salmond is also enjoying higher ratings than Gordon Brown, according to the poll of 1,111 people conducted last week.
Fifty per cent thought Mr Salmond was doing a better job, compared to 22% for Mr Brown.
Mr Salmond also had higher ratings as a party leader, scoring 46% to Wendy Alexander's 10%, Annabel Goldie's 9%, and just 4% for Nicol Stephen.
SNP deputy leader Nicola Sturgeon said: "These poll figures confirm the historic shift in Scottish opinion that has taken place this year.
"And the mood of optimism sweeping Scotland is continuing apace - the Scottish Government's approval ratings are still on the rise."
She declared: "Far more Labour and Lib Dem voters prefer the leadership of Alex Salmond than their own party leaders.
"And this is before the full extent of Labour's funding crisis became apparent. Voters are telling us that they have had enough of sleazy Labour, and are now backing the successful SNP government and our positive policy programme."
The SNP's honeymoon in government is still going strong seven months after the Scottish Parliament election, according to a new poll.
The YouGov figures showed that 63% of 1,111 people asked think First Minister Alex Salmond and his colleagues are performing well in comparison to 26% who think they are faring badly.
The SNP-commissioned poll, carried out over three days last week, showed that 50% of people thought the Gordon MSP was doing a better job leading the country than Prime Minister Gordon Brown was doing south of the border.
Mr Brown only secured 22% of the vote while 21% said neither man was impressing
Asked what political leader at Holyrood has performed best since the elections in May, 46% said Mr Salmond, who is also MP for Banff and Buchan, was the most competent.
Labour leader in Scotland, Wendy Alexander, who is currently fighting for her political life over an illegal donation scandal, polled 10% of the vote while Tory leader Annabel Goldie took 9% and Aberdeen South MSP Nicol Stephen, leader of the Liberal Democrats, 4%.
Some 31% of people said they did not know who was the best performer.
However, SNP deputy leader Nicola Sturgeon said the poll confirmed "the historic shift" in Scottish opinion that has taken place this year.
She added: "Alex Salmond is more than twice as popular as Gordon Brown in terms of who is doing the best job - and twice as popular than the other Scottish party leaders added together."
Wendy Alexander last night vowed to stay on as Scottish Labour leader, and denied she had done anything "intentionally" wrong as the row over a donation to her leadership campaign raged on.
She said: "I offered myself to lead Labour in the Scottish Parliament in the autumn because I believed and continue to believe I have a con-tribution to make to improve the lives of my fellow Scots."
Ms Alexander has been under mounting pressure after it emerged that the Jersey-based businessman Paul Green had given £950 to her campaign fund.
Election watchdogs at the Electoral Commission are now investigating all donations to that fund.
And the possibility of a police investigation also increased after SNP researcher Mark Hirst said he had lodged a complaint with Strathclyde Police.
Ms Alexander, who became Scottish Labour leader in September, said yesterday: "I deeply regret the damage which recent publicity has brought to the Labour Party.
"However, I reject any suggestion of intentional wrong doing on my part. I intend to address these matters with the Electoral Commission with whom I am co-operating fully."
In her statement she insisted: "I am confident when all the facts are known I will be exonerated of any intentional wrong doing.
"There is a great deal more I would like to say on the matter, but in light of the ongoing inquiry by the Electoral Commission it would be inappropriate for me to do so."
Ms Alexander, the sister of International Development Secretary Douglas Alexander, made the statement after further questions were asked about the donation from 65-year-old Mr Green.
Yesterday's Sunday Herald suggested her campaign team was aware early last month that the donation may not be permissible.
A document said to have been "authored" by Brian Ashcroft, her husband, contained the phrase "permissible donor?" in an entry relating to Mr Green, the newspaper said.
It was also reported yesterday that Prime Minister Gordon Brown urged Ms Alexander not to quit, as this could put pressure on senior party figures at Westminster - where there is also a row over donations - to follow suit.
Yesterday Mr Hirst said: "I made the complaint as a private individual.
"This is just really to start the process, because there seems to be some doubt that the Electoral Commission are going to proceed, which seems to me to be astonishing."
Deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said Ms Alexander's position looked untenable.
She said: "The only reason Ms Alexander is staying in post is to act as a human shield for Gordon Brown whose sole priority is not her interests or Scottish Labour; it's to prevent the house of cards collapsing.
"The Scottish Labour leader has been presented with incontrovertible evidence yet has resorted to a vow of silence."
The SNP added to Labour's woes, publishing poll figures showing the Scottish Government was more popular than the Labour UK Government by a margin of five to one.
The YouGov poll for the SNP said 54% of those questioned thought the Holyrood administration was performing better, with 11% backing the UK Government.
Further pressure on Ms Alexander came when Labour chief whip Geoff Hoon said of her thank you letter in October to Paul Green: "I don't believe it puts her in an impossible position, but clearly she has to explain how this came about and what she knew at the time."
Asked if there should be a police investigation, he said: "If there has been any suggestion of any breach of the criminal law, then certainly."
Liberal Democrat shadow Scottish secretary Alistair Carmichael said: "This is a very big mess for Labour.
"Labour wrote the rules on party donations themselves yet seem unable to stick to them. Now is the time to disclose all the facts related to these donations.
"These events reinforce the need for a full-scale overhaul of party funding."
Tory deputy leader Murdo Fraser said: "What is absolutely clear today is that Wendy Alexander is now becoming a lame duck leader for Scottish Labour."
A majority of Scots believe the system that allows their MPs to vote on English-only matters is unjust, a poll released today shows.
The YouGov survey, conducted for the SNP, shows that two thirds - 65 per cent - of Scots believe it is "generally unfair" that Scottish MPs in the House of Commons are allowed to vote on English-only issues.
The results will intensify pressure on Gordon Brown to reform the so-called "West Lothian Question", which gives Scottish MPs a vote on policies, including health and education, which will not affect their constituents. Just 25 per cent of Scots thought that the arrangement was "generally fair" and a further 10 per cent said they didn't know.
Increasing pressure on the Prime Minister, similar trends were found among Labour voters north of the border.
They disagreed with the system by a margin of almost two to one, with 59 per cent describing it as unfair and only 32 per cent fair. Conservative voters were the mostly likely to oppose it, with 77 per cent against and just 13 per cent in favour.
Among supporters of the SNP, whose MPs abstain from votes which do not affect their constituencies, 67 per cent thought that the law was unfair. The poll also showed that Gordon Brown was losing support north of the border to Alex Salmond.
Just 22 per cent thought the Prime Minister was doing a good job - less than half the 50 per cent who thought the same of the SNP leader.
In recent years, the West Lothian Question has allowed Scottish MPs to have casting votes on the introduction of tuition fees for university students and the creation of foundation hospitals, neither of which affected Scotland.
Gordon Brown has consistently refused to change the system, named because under devolution Scottish MPs can vote on education and other devolved issues in Blackburn, Lancs, but not Blackburn, West Lothian.
David Cameron, the Conservative leader, has publicly stated his belief in the need for reform.
Last night, Angus Robertson, the SNP Westminster leader, said: "It is unfair to England for Scots Labour MPs to act as lobby fodder at Westminster on English-only issues - such as foisting top-up fees and foundation hospitals on England against the wishes of a majority of English MPs."
A spokesman for the Tories said that the poll showed that the Scots recognised unfairness when they saw it.
"Labour have refused to even ask the question, but this poll shows that Scots recognise the unfairness created by devolution and that that is the West Lothian Question."
YouGov asked 1,111 people across Scotland between Nov 28 and 30.
THE SNP Government is growing in popularity in Glasgow, a new poll has revealed.
It shows 63% of people in Glasgow think it's doing a better job than the Labour Government at Westminster, which was backed by just 13%.
The rise in popularity in the city is reflected across west Scotland, with 58% believing it is performing better, compared with 11% support for Westminster.
The findings are part of a YouGov poll commissioned by the SNP, which claims a massive support for the new Scottish Government.
The SNP's business convener, MP Angus Robertson, said: "These sensational poll figures shows that not only do the people of Scotland prefer the SNP Government in Scotland over the Labour Government in London by an overwhelming margin of 43% but that in Glasgow and the West of Scotland the margin is even greater at 47% and 50% respectively.
"These figures are of huge significance.
"It's clear the minority SNP government is thriving and delivering for the people of Glasgow and the West of Scotland, while the London Labour government is sinking fast in a sea of financial sleaze and internecine warfare."
The most damaging aspect of the crisis engulfing the Scottish Labour party is its sheer stupidity. It must be the first time in political history that a party leader has faced resignation over the conduct of an election campaign which never actually happened.
If Labour had been trying to destroy itself as a political force in Scotland it could hardly have done better. Scottish voters are appalled, more at the incompetence of Labour than its actual corruption. The hapless conspirators have brought upon Labour something worse then the taint of sleaze - ridicule. This is sub-prime politics, and is having a toxic effect on Labour's electoral credit.
After half a century of political hegemony, the party is collapsing around Godfather Gordon Brown's ears. Labour is a shell, deserted by many of its most loyal supporters. The latest YouGov poll, commissioned by the SNP, suggests that more Labour voters support Alex Salmond than Wendy Alexander, and that only 10% of Scots are impressed by her performance.
The timing could not have been worse. Labour has responded to the challenge posed by Salmond's minority SNP government by indulging in the worst vices of west of Scotland Labour politics: cronyism, backstabbing, dishonesty, incompetence and financial duplicity. Documents leaked by members of Alexander's inner circle reveal an astonishing lack of understanding of Labour's own laws on fundraising and a positively hair-raising degree of pointless risk-taking.
We have been here before, in 2001, when the then Labour first minister, Henry McLeish, resigned over an obscure irregularity in his constituency accounts. Unlike Alexander, McLeish hadn't broken any laws, but the welter of confusion and briefing surrounding the subletting of his constituency offices forced him out. He was replaced by Jack McConnell, whose time in office was marked by controversy over his links with a commercial lobbying firm, his constituency fundraising accounts, and his acceptance of a holiday from the broadcaster Kirsty Wark.
After McConnell's departure, following the May election defeat, Alexander was heralded as Labour's new broom. But it has taken less than two months for Labour's first female leader to be swept into the same mire of pointless and petty sleaze.
The disease, a kind of political memory loss, is systemic in the Scottish Labour party. It was incubated over decades in the sump of one-party politics in west central Scotland. With no political opposition, politics in Labour's council fastnesses took the form of cronyism, favouritism and factionalism, often overlaid with sectarianism: a delinquent machine politics which has now been reproduced at national level in Holyrood.
The dismal quality of life of Glasgow citizens, who have the worst health and longevity in Britain, is mocked by the flashy shopping developments erected by Glasgow council leaders and their business friends over the last 20 years. These same friends are now caught up in the web of petty scandal over the donations.
Property developers like the Jersey-based tax exile Paul Green were urged to give "995s" - donations of just under £1,000, so that their contributions could be kept secret. His donation was illegal because he was not on the UK electoral register. Alexander's team knew this, but rather than pay the money back, it embarked on the most inept cover-up in the history of political skulduggery.
Gordon Brown's "moral compass" is mocked by the behaviour of his Scottish Labour cadres, who seem incapable of seeing a rule without trying to circumvent it. The PM cannot dissociate himself from the political culture of his home party, because for the last 15 years he has been in almost complete control of it. Wendy Alexander and her brother Douglas, the development secretary, are his proteges. Nothing happens in Scottish politics without Gordon's agreement - not even resignation. The Scottish scandal cannot be laid at the door of Tony Blair, in the way the Abrahams donations arguably could be because they happened under his watch.
But it's not just Brown who could be damaged. Labour has lost power in Holyrood and now faces a slow descent into the same sleazy oblivion into which the once-dominant Scottish Tories disappeared in the mid 90s. This leaves the SNP as the dominant force in Scottish politics for the foreseeable future. Incredibly, the very future of the union has been placed in jeopardy over a donation of £950.
Nearly two-thirds of Scots think Gordon Brown has proved a "disappointing" Prime Minister so far, a poll has suggested.
The SNP-commissioned poll said just 18% of those questioned by pollsters YouGov rated him as "impressive".
And 44% of Labour voters thought him disappointing compared to 39% who thought him impressive.
SNP Westminster leader Angus Robertson said: "Even in his own backyard, Gordon Brown has been an enormous flop."
He claimed: "Gordon Brown's premiership and the Government at Westminster have stalled - stuck in a mire of funding sleaze and internecine war.
"Alex Salmond and the Scottish Government, by contrast, have soaring approval ratings because the SNP are delivering a policy programme that reflects the priorities of the people."
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