A BRIDGE TOO FAR FOR SNP - ELECTION ROUND-UP
First Minister fears election losses
NICOLA Sturgeon yesterday hinted that she expects her party to lose MPs in Thursday’s election.
As she continued her tour of marginal seats, the First Minister indicated it will be tough to repeat the 2015 Westminster success that saw the SNP increase their total from six to 56.
The nationalists received an astonishing 50 per cent of the popular vote in that election – but recent polls suggest their support has dropped closer to 40 per cent.
That leaves a number of sitting MPs at risk of defeat.
Yesterday, we accompanied Sturgeon as she toured three of the tightest constituencies in her campaign helicopter.
The SNP leader visited East Dunbartonshire and North East Fife, where the Lib Dems are challenging, and Hawick in the Borders, where the Tories are nipping at her heels.
Asked if the tour showed she is worried about losing seats, Sturgeon said: “The SNP are significantly ahead of our rivals – it feels a bit odd for me to be answering questions about problems with opinion polls.
“Yeah, we had an exceptional result in 2015. I hope we can replicate that. We are working hard to do that but it was an exceptional election result.
“But all of the polls suggest we are on track to win this election and that for me is what matters.”
All three of the SNP’s main rivals are trying to win votes from them by opposing a second independence referendum.
But Sturgeon insisted: “I’m not asking anybody to vote on independence now. If we don’t have a choice at the end of the Brexit process, we are effectively saying we accept Brexit regardless of how damaging it is – and I don’t think that is the right position for us to be in.”
Critics say her decision to push ahead with another referendum has caused Sturgeon’s personal popularity to plummet.
A survey today shows almost one in three Scots (31 per cent) would give her one out of 10 for her performance as First Minister.
The YouGov poll commissioned by Labour also reveals only three per cent believe education is her top priority as First Minister. In contrast, 62 per cent of voters
believe her defining mission is securing independence.
Kezia Dugdale is hoping to capitalise on Sturgeon’s plunging approval ratings and claims that areas like health and education have suffered as a result of her focus on constitutional politics.
The Scottish Labour leader said: “On Thursday, people can send Nicola Sturgeon a message that she should focus on the day job, rather than forcing another independence referendum that people in Scotland don’t want.
“After 10 years of the SNP campaigning for independence, Scotland’s schools and hospitals have suffered. Nicola Sturgeon’s answer is another referendum – she is playing a broken record.”
But Sturgeon insisted Labour are irrelevant to the election campaign in Scotland.
She said: “My view is it has become more about how you stop the Tories getting a bigger majority and more ability to do damage in Scotland.
“People have become more and more worried about the implications of five more years of the Tories – more austerity cuts, policies on pensions, the implications of an extreme hard Brexit.
“It’s become about the best way to stop the Tories – and the only way to do that in Scotland is to vote SNP.”