Labour Leadership Crisis as Poll Analysis Shows Lamont Would Lose Seat

"STARK REJECTION OF LABOUR'S NEGATIVITY IN SCOTLAND"
The leadership of Johann Lamont has come under pressure today as a poll analysis shows that voters may punish the Labour Party in Scotland even further, following a week in which Labour parliamentarians abstained on a series of key issues - Iraq, Trident, free bus passes, and workfare.

Analysis of the weekend Panelbase poll for the Sunday Times and Real Radio - which puts SNP support higher than in the 2011 Holyrood election, and Labour lower - shows that on these figures Labour leader Johann Lamont would lose her Glasgow Pollok seat.

The same result would also see the seats of two former party leaders fall to the SNP, with Iain Gray’s East Lothian and Motherwell & Wishaw, the former seat of Jack McConnell, returning SNP MSPs. In all, the SNP would pick up an additional six constituency seats from Labour, and a further two from the Tories.

The poll will raise questions over the future of Johann Lamont’s leadership, with the party sliding further backwards two years on from their disastrous 2011 election performance, when the SNP won an overall majority within a more proportional voting system.

Commenting, SNP MSP for Glasgow Kelvin Sandra White said:

“This is a fantastic poll for the SNP - showing an even higher level of support than in our landslide victory in 2011, and demonstrates that we are continuing to earn the trust of the people of Scotland.

"It is also a stark rejection of the depressing negativity of the Labour Party in Scotland - under Johann Lamont's leadership, Labour have fallen back even further than they did under Iain Gray

"On these poll figures, Johann Lamont's own seat would be won by the SNP - as well as the constituencies of her two predecessors as leader.

"People have remarked on Johann Lamont's negative attitude in responding to the announcement of the independence referendum date - Labour in Scotland appears to have degenerated into nothing more than an anti-SNP and anti-independence party.

"Being joined at the hip with the Tories in the anti-independence No campaign is clearly hurting Labour - particularly with support for an independent Scotland now needing a swing of only just over 5 per cent to move ahead - and this poll warning will set alarm bells ringing throughout the party.

“The SNP will always put the interests of Scotland first, and it is a fantastic vote of confidence that so many people are continuing to place their trust in us to deliver for them and their families.”

Last week in the Scottish Parliament, Labour MSPs abstained on votes to continue the older person’s bus pass, to oppose renewing Trident, and to condemn the illegal war in Iraq which has cost tens of thousands of lives. Meanwhile, Scottish Labour MPs in Westminster abstained on a key vote on welfare legislation rather than taking a stand on the issue of workfare.

The Panelbase poll for the Sunday Times/Real Radio surveyed 885 adults in Scotland between 18-22 March and found:

Scottish Parliament Constituency vote (change on 2011 result in brackets):

SNP: 47% (+2%)
Labour: 30% (-2%)
Conservatives: 12% (-2%)
LibDems: 5% (-3%)

Using Weber Shandwick’s Scotland Votes seat calculator, this would result in Labour losing the following constituencies to the SNP:

Glasgow Pollok
Greenock & Inverclyde
East Lothian
Edinburgh North & Leith
Motherwell & Wishaw
Uddingston & Bellshill

The Tories would also lose the following seats to the SNP:

Ayr
Galloway & West Dumfries

Davidson gaffe reveals plan for £1bn budget cut

Ruth Davidson has marked the one year anniversary of her error-strewn time in office with a spectacularly misjudged call to cut over £1 billion from Scotland’s budget.

Ruth Davidson had previously called for a 1p cut to income tax in Scotland, but today called for even steeper tax cuts stating “I want us to look further to see if 1p in the pound is all we can afford”.

In 2016 when the cut would come in, every 1p reduction in income tax in Scotland would cost £560 million. This means that if income tax was cut even further than her previous statements have called for, Scotland’s budget would be facing a hole of at least £1.12 billion.

Ruth Davidson has also previously stated that the Barnett Formula will be “reviewed” if there is a No vote in 2014, revealing the Tories’ willingness to bring in even more savage cuts to Scotland’s budget if the referendum does not return a Yes vote.

Her call for Scotland’s budget to be slashed comes on the same day as a poll by Oxfam showing that 57% of Scots are against lowering taxes for everyone as would be required under Scotland’s tax varying powers.
Commenting, SNP MSP Sandra White said:

“Ruth Davidson is becoming renowned for her gaffes, but even by her standards she has made a spectacular misstep today.

“Before she has even come close to explaining how she would pay for her first tax cut, she has now stated that she wants to go even further.

“Ruth Davidson must now come clean with people in Scotland and explain exactly what part of the public sector is in the firing line for her £1 billion bombshell.

“People in Scotland want public services and the social contract that underpins society protected, not put on the chopping block in pursuit of Tory ideology.

“With today’s Oxfam poll revealing just how out of step with the Scottish public Ruth Davidson is, today’s gaffe has been a fitting way to mark her hapless first year as leader.

“Only a Yes vote in 2014 will protect Scotland from the dismal prospect of the anti-independence parties taking the axe to Scotland’s budget and rolling back the progress that has been made by the Scottish Parliament.”