SNP extends lead over Labour in Scotland

The Scottish National party has extended its already commanding lead over beleaguered Labour in Scotland, a new poll has found, with SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon judged clear winner of the first televised election debate between party leaders north of the border.

A YouGov poll for The Times newspaper that was conducted after the STV debate on Tuesday put SNP support at 49 per cent, up 3 percentage points in one week, while backing for Labour was down four points at 25 per cent.

The poll is a further heavy blow to Labour in Scotland, where it is facing a near wipeout that looks likely to kill its hopes of winning a majority in May's general election.

It came as Labour received a boost from three separate UK-wide polls that all put it ahead of the Conservatives - including one that gave Ed Miliband, Labour leader, a higher approval rating than David Cameron, the prime minister.

Labour has been desperate to revive its fortunes in Scotland, with Mr Miliband campaign in Scotland on Friday, but the Times/YouGov poll suggested its collapse in the face of SNP challenge continues.

If uniformly replicated across Scotland, the YouGov results would give the SNP more than 50 of a total 59 Westminster seats, although analysts say regional variations and the benefits of incumbency mean Labour is almost certain to hold on to more seats than such estimates suggest.

"Even so, this looks more like a tsunami than landslide," The Times quoted Peter Kellner, YouGov president, as saying.

In a further blow to Jim Murphy, Scottish Labour leader, the Times/YouGov poll found that 56 per cent of those who watched Tuesday's STV debate thought Ms Sturgeon had won it.

Ruth Davidson, leader of the Scottish Conservatives, was second on 14 per cent with Mr Murphy trailing one point behind her.

The result came despite the view of many commentators that Ms Sturgeon had performed relatively poorly in the face of repeated criticism from the pro-union party leaders and questions about her plans for any future independence referendum.

Labour hopes that a second Scottish leaders debate broadcast by the BBC on Wednesday will help its cause. Mr Murphy has seized on Ms Sturgeon's determination to push ahead with demands for "full fiscal autonomy" despite warnings that low oil prices would mean harsh austerity for Scotland.

Mr Miliband will on Friday join with Mr Murphy and Labour shadow chancellor Ed Balls to mount a combined assault on the SNP over fiscal autonomy, which would mean Edinburgh taking over control of all taxation in Scotland and transferring some funds to London for shared UK services.

Labour says the scrapping of the current system, under which London gathers taxes such as North Sea oil revenues and gives Scotland a block grant, would be disastrous.

"I will never sell Scotland short by signing up to the SNP's plans," Mr Miliband said in remarks released in advance of his visit to Edinburgh.

A Survation poll released on Thursday evening found Mr Miliband had overtaken Mr Cameron in approval ratings, although the Conservative leader retained a 12 point lead on who would make the best prime minister.

UK-wide, Labour was ahead of the Conservatives by six points, four points and three points respectively in Panelbase, Survation and TNS surveys. Labour polled between 33 and 37 per cent, against 30 to 32 per cent for the Conservatives.

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