John Swinney's shock approval rating result as poll shows worst drop

In a sign Mr Swinney’s honeymoon period as leader may be over, More in Common’s final Scotland-only voting intention poll of the general election campaign found his approval rating fell 13 points from -2 to -15. While no major political leader or political party has positive approval ratings in Scotland, Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has the least negative approvals at -6.

Rishi Sunak and the Conservative Party’s approval ratings have also fallen further and the figure now stands at -51 and -55 respectively among Scots.

To make matters worse for the SNP, the polling also showed that Labour held a five point lead over the party, enjoying a greater than 15 point swing. If such a result is replicated on Thursday, it is likely to see Labour gaining up to 35 seats north of the border, upending the political landscape after more than a decade of SNP dominance.

The polling has Labour on 35 per cent, the SNP on 30 per cent, followed by the Tories on 16 per cent, and the Lib Dems on nine per cent. Reform were on seven per cent, with the Green Party on just two per cent.

When it comes to what matters to Scots, the polling found the cost of living and the NHS are the two dominant issues for this election – even though health is a devolved issue and is not the responsibility of Westminster.

Scottish independence is placed as the fourth top issue in Scotland - down three points from its position of third from a More in Common poll of Scots in May.

It also also found the Labour party was more trusted on issues such as housing, the NHS and the cost of living. Despite this, people were more likely to blame Westminster for issues with the economy in Scotland, more likely to blame Holyrood for challenges with policing, education and transport, and were evenly split over whether Westminster or Holyrood is to blame for issues in the NHS.

Luke Tryl, executive director of More in Common UK, said: “Our final poll of the campaign in Scotland confirms that Scotland’s political landscape is about to be upended again and that Labour are on course to make significant gains across Scotland at the expense of the SNP turning very many seats from yellow to red next Thursday evening.

“Our polling also finds that John Swinney’s honeymoon period as the new First Minister was a brief one - with a 13 point drop in approval ratings over the course of the campaign.

“The question then for the SNP is whether they can use the final days of the campaign to make the argument that with Labour already set to secure such a historic majority”

It comes as the party raised concerns over delays to postal vote distribution, with many Scots concerned they will not be able to cast a ballot ahead of Thursday’s election due to holidays.

The 4 July poll is taking place in the first week of the school holidays north of the border. SNP Westminster leader Stephen Flynn has said the postal voting system requires “huge reform”.