Alex Salmond 'is not a popular politician' says John Curtice
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Ahead of the vote next Thursday which is set to determine Scotland’s future, Ms Sturgeon took a dig at her former mentor as polling indicates he is set to make a return to Holyrood. She said: “I am not intimidated by Alex Salmond. I have never been intimidated by Alex Salmond, as he well knows.”
The latest polls reveal the SNP is set to win a majority at the Scottish Parliament election on Thursday.
The survey commissioned by BMG Research suggests the SNP is set to win 68 seats while other projections show the Alba Party will take two seats, once the regional distribution of its support is taken into account.
Meanwhile, the poll for the Herald on Sunday suggests the Greens will pick up nine seats – meaning Holyrood would have 79 pro-independence MSPs out of 129.
It found the SNP will take a 28-point lead in the Holyrood constituency vote on 49 percent, Labour on 21 percent, the Scottish Conservatives on 19 percent, and the Liberal Democrats on 9 percent.
It said the SNP is on 37 percent on the regional list, the Tories are on 22 percent, Labour on 17 percent, the Lib Dems on 8 percent, the Greens on 9 percent, Alba on 4 percent, and Reform UK on 1 percent.
Robert Struthers, head of polling at BMG, said: “There is no question that the SNP will be returned as the largest party in Holyrood next week, but their prospect of a majority remains on a knife-edge.
“With little movement since our last poll in mid-March, there is no real evidence that any party has gathered significant momentum ahead of voters casting their ballots next week.
“Using a uniform seat calculator – a general guide of estimating how votes might translate into seats – our numbers suggest that the SNP could win a small majority of seven, thanks to a close to clean sweep of constituencies.”
A second poll undertaken by Panelbase for the Sunday Times claims Nicola Sturgeon will win with a majority of only one whilst the Alba party is forecast to win three seats
In the constituency vote, when undecided voters were excluded, the SNP were on 48 per cent with the Conservatives on 21 per cent.
Labour were on 20 percent, the Liberal Democrats on 7 percent and the Greens on 3 per cent.
In the regional vote, the SNP remained on 39 percent, the Tories on 22 percent, Labour on 16 percent, Lib Dems on 7 percent and Greens unchanged on 8 percent.
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New parties Alba on 4 percent and All For Unity, founded by George Galloway, on 2 percent.
Scottish polling guru Professor Sir John Curtice translated into the party vote in seat forecasts for both polls.
For the BMG poll, Professor Curtice said the SNP would get 68 seats, the Tories 25 seats, Labour would win 18, the Greens would win nine, the Liberal Democrats would win seven, and Alba would win two.
For the Panelbase poll, the professor of politics at the University of Strathclyde said the SNP could secure 65 seats, the Tories 28, Labour 18, Lib Dems six, Greens nine and Alba three.
BMG polled 1,023 Scots aged 16 or over between April 27 and 30 whilst Panelbase asked 1,096 voters between April 28 and 30.
A third poll for Scotland on Sunday asked Scots about the SNPs record in Government.
34 percent of voters believe the SNP has handled education well, with 39 percent believing it was handled badly, giving the SNP a net rating of minus five.
The SNP was also found to have performed badly on crime at minus four, with Brexit at minus three and housing policy at minus one.
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However, voters overall were pleased with the SNP’s record in government, according to the poll by Savanta ComRes.
A total of 1,001 Scots aged 16 or over were interviewed between April 23 and 27 for the survey.
Responding to the polls, Alex Salmond said: “An SNP regional list vote is a wasted vote across Scotland and they are set to win zero list seats on Thursday.
“It is now vital to ensure a big Supermajority, with independence supporters giving the SNP their constituency vote but backing Alba on the list.
“Today’s polls show that the independence-supporting MSPs could potentially reach 80 or even more.”
Meanwhile, Nicola Sturgeon insisted she is the only politician offering “serious leadership” for Scotland in Thursday’s crucial Holyrood poll.
Ms Sturgeon said: “We are not saying there are not big challenges to address in this country, but we are the only party doing the work and putting forward the plans to actually do that.
“And that’s the choice people have on Thursday, do you want to vote for parties that are vying for second place, openly saying they have got no plan for government, or do you want a serious first minister, and experienced first minister, that is leading a government that is serious about tackling the challenges.”
Scottish Conservative candidate Annie Wells said: “The fact is that a peach ballot for Labour is a wasted vote if you want to prevent an SNP majority and stop Indyref2.
“They have no hope of challenging the SNP on the regional list.
“So I’m asking everyone like me who grew up supporting Labour to lend the Scottish Conservatives their peach ballots.”
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