Political guru reads runes ... and it spells ruin for Labour

LABOUR is heading for heavy losses in council elections in Scotland while the SNP could become the largest party in two-thirds of local authorities, according to a new report.

A paper by election expert Professor John Curtice for the Electoral Reform Society suggests the SNP are on course to have most councillors in 23 of 32 local authorities. The SNP won overall control of just two councils in 2012, but the report suggests between seven and nine authorities could fall to them.

Labour, which in 2012 won overall control of four councils, including Scotland’s largest authority Glasgow City Council, “seems unlikely” to retain any, the report says.

A total of 1,227 council seats will be up for grabs on Thursday – with a total of 2,572 candidates in the running. The SNP are fielding 627, an increase of 14 from 2012, and with the party targeting victory in Glasgow it is fielding 56 candidates contesting all wards in the city, 13 more than the last council election. The Green Party has 218 candidates, a record number, and 132 more than five years ago while the number of Tory candidates is up 18 to 380. In contrast, Labour has 44 fewer people standing than in 2012, with 453 candidates. The number of Liberal Democrats and independent candidates is unchanged at 247 and 499 respectively. There are 148 candidates from other parties. Curtice said: “The changes in the number of candidates being nominated by the parties give us a strong clue as to how they see their chances.” He said Labour appeared “to be expecting a setback”. “As a result of the sharp reduction in the number of candidates it is fielding, the party can only retain control of Glasgow, West Dunbarton and Renfrew if every single one of the party’s candidates there secures election.”