SNP has Glasgow landslide in sight as polls back party

Battle for main prize shows more than half of voters will pick Nationalists

THE SNP is on course to oust Labour from almost 40 years of unbroken power in Scotland’s biggest city, with internal party figures showing it polling just over 50 per cent.

Senior party sources have told The Herald that despite differences in certain parts of the city, more than half those polled in Glasgow have said they would vote Nationalist.

Insiders also claimed the figures reflected the SNP’s “voter management strategy”, of fielding up to three candidates in some wards.

Based on about 10,000 voters not previously targeted by the SNP as potential supporters, the party would have an overall majority if their intentions are replicated on May 4.

It would remove Labour from power in Glasgow for the first time since 1979.

But leading figures within Labour’s city campaign said First Minister Nicola Sturgeon was playing poorly on the doorsteps and that the SNP polling “demonstrates a level of complacency”.

Although it is fielding just enough to secure a Labour majority, some within Glasgow Labour would be content if their efforts were enough to deny the SNP a majority.

Its own figures shows it hitting around 35 per cent, though again the picture was mixed across the city.

With new wards added to the city’s council map and the number of elected representatives also increased, any party will need 43 councillors to secure an overall majority.

The SNP is fielding 56, a strategy it admits is a risk and could split its vote.

Just over a week before the city goes to the polls, like elsewhere in Scotland, the constitutional issue and looming General Election overshadow who the public believe will be the best custodians of cherished local services.

A spokesman for the Glasgow Labour Campaign said it was “confident of retaining the trust of voters in Glasgow and retaining control of the council”.

He added: “Our voter management strategy, which worked well in 2012 and which saw 44 out of 45 Labour candidates elected, is once again proving to be effective, with a clear understanding among voters vowing to vote to ensure the best chance of electing Labour councillors who will always put Glasgow first.”

But the SNP insist its position as the “change candidates” is the only non-national dynamic across the city.

A leading party source said: “Issues around Indyref2 or this being a lever for something else are there but they are marginal. The repeated issue is about change, about ‘getting rid of that lot in the City Chambers’. Along with the state of the streets this is main Glasgow issue.

“People are telling us they see no prospect on improvement with a Labour administration. It’s a real sense of disillusionment. at play

“Some voters are very, very anti-SNP but that’s due to our stance on the constitution and not about concerns about our competence or this notion we won’t stick up for Glasgow. I’ve not heard that once.”

Last week figures emerged from polling carried out by figures within Labour, which showed the SNP securing 44 seats to their own 29. Notably they also pointed to Tory representation on the council beyond the single councillor it has had for decades.

The Tories had set themselves a target of six seats but have increased this to nine on the basis of unexpectedly strong polling in areas, including the solidly working class Shettleston.

Fielding just 22 candidates, one in each multi-member ward, its unashamed aim is denying the SNP an overall majority.

The Greens are tipped to return similar numbers as they did in 2012 with four or five councillors.