Major balanced poll – Information-starved public critical of Scottish Government’s record but are sure Labour would not do a better job

By Professor John Robertson OBA

The first thing I check for in any full poll is the extent to which the initial sample has been adjusted to reflect the make-up of the electorate in the 2021 Holyrood Election (not required) and they 2014 Referendum (good, they have not). In the light of the latter non-adjustment which many feel has distorted previous poll results against the SNP, we can, for the first time, reasonably trust these results.

Their own headline – Public critical of Scottish Government’s record but aren’t convinced that Labour would do a better job – is surprising given that, across all areas of public service, the economy and climate, a significant majority, in some cases nearly twice, say that Labour WOULD do a worse job (Table 62).

More sobering for the SNP is that around one-third think that a Labour Government would do no worse.

Particularly interesting for our campaigning is the fact that between 17% [NHS] and 21% [Climate] don’t know if Labour would do a better or worse job. The party at all levels needs to getting on with rebuttals to turn this group in our favour. It’s easily researched. It takes seconds to share MSM Monitor and that other guy, from Ayr I think, once described as ‘very good‘ but a bit ‘eager!‘ We need a bit more eager on social media if you ask me.

There are 76 tables in this survey but two, 30 and 31 – To what extent, if at all, do you have a favourable or unfavourable opinion of the following politicians and political parties? The Scottish National Party, are useful for thinking about our our tactics.

  1. The lower the income the less favourable we seem to be. The better off are trending toward Labour.
  2. We’re significantly more favoured by families with children than those without.
  3. We’re twice as popular with Remainers, than with Leavers. The Leavers really like Reform UK.
  4. We’re more popular with the young, but not the youngest, than with the old. The old are not massively drawn to Reform UK in Scotland or the Cons anymore.

Nobody much likes the Cons anymore and the Lib Dems and Greens remain too small to matter.

SNP targets now –

  1. try to retain the less well-off and those with children with max publicity on progressive taxation, lower council tax and benefits,
  2. focus on the older (no longer Conservative loyalists?) and remainer voters with max publicity on universal benefits, winter fuel allowance.
  3. do something about the 16-24 year-olds with max publicity in their media, on universal benefits, tuition fees, free bus passes for under 24s.
  4. dial back on non-devolved virtue signalling issues (?) in eg foreign affairs.
  5. drug deaths, homelessness, affordable housing etc – keep going on these but do not expect the majority to care enough to vote for us on these, so never front page.

Source:

https://www.ipsos.com/en-uk/public-critical-scottish-governments-record-arent-convinced-labour-would-do-better-job

5 thoughts on “Major balanced poll – Information-starved public critical of Scottish Government’s record but are sure Labour would not do a better job”

  1. Labour cut the winter fuel payment. The SNP Gov are going to reinstate it.

    Win, win for the SNP. Support increasing for SNP and Independence. Another massive victory forecast.

    Labour are going to increase Defence (attack) spending. Spending £Billions on Trident and redundant weaponry. Westminster funding decommissioning Nuclear £13Billion a year.Even increasing. Hickley Point and HS2 a total waste of money. The railways in the North and Scotland should have been improved to cut journey times throughout Britain.

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  3. Definitely dial back on virtue signalling on reserve matters. Backing Westminster on their mad Ukraine policy means backing increases in defence spending and the fiction that Scotland has to be in NATO and have leaky nuclear submarines on the Clyde. Self defeating contradictions in policy turn voters off IMO.

    Agree about using social media and getting the message out. Where are the SNP on Grangemouth? The biggest deindustrialisation issue today and I’ve heard nothing. MSM Monitor is the only one sending out signals regularly.

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  4. “We need a bit more eager on social media”

    100% agree, and that includes exposing how Labour UK pick and choose who, as a nation within the UK, to patronise, for political reasons mostly.

    Keir Starmer hosted a St David’s day Reception at 10 Downing street on the 3rd of March this year.

    He tweeted:

    “Great to celebrate the achievements, people and history of Wales in Downing Street”

    He also linked a video of the reception and tweeted:

    “The history of Wales is the story of people fighting for a better future – for every person. That is exactly what my government is determined to do”.

    Which Labour government would that be ?

    The UK or the Welsh one, as currently Wales is being let down by both the Welsh Labour government and also the new Labour UK government, also why digress into politics, as that is then less a celebration of Wales and it’s patron saint and more Starmer trying to celebrate the NON fact that Labour government(s) are best for Wales.

    Starmer also invited some of the actors from the ‘popular’ comedy series “Gavin & Stacy” to this Downing Street reception, so pretty much contrived then as a situation, with Starmer inviting actors from this Welsh/English hugely popular comedy programme . (Where both Welsh and English actors from this programme were invited to this reception).

    But let’s remember that Labour are the party who are the current Welsh government.

    The next Senedd election in Wales is on the 7 May 2026.

    Polling for Labour in Wales is not looking good just now, so some PR for Labour in Wales and Labour in the UK from the UK PM is badly needed.

    So did Starmer , as UK PM, also host a reception at Downing street to celebrate St Andrew’s day in November 2024 ?

    No he did not, perhaps he thought it was not needed , due to 37 Labour MP’s being elected in Scotland in the July 2024 GE .

    So Scots votes were ‘in the bag’ going forward, or so Starmer thought.

    Though that is now changing so perhaps we, Scotland, may also get a wee (political and condescending) reception too this year in November 2025 at Downing street for our Patron Saint , as every little bit helps, or so Starmer assumes.

    So , who would be the ‘Scottish’ guests at that reception at Downing Street, I dread to think.

    However although Scotland did not get a Downing Street reception in November 2024 to celebrate both our patron saint and also to celebrate us the Scottish people, Keir Starmer did ‘remember’ to send us a tweet which stated:

    “Today, we celebrate the pride and potential of Scotland – Happy St Andrew’s Day”

    Starmer also linked a tweet from Labour in Scotland which stated:

    “A very happy St Andrew’s Day to everyone celebrating in Scotland and around the world”.

    BTW when Starmer was the official opposition leader he made a video in April 2024 celebrating the English patron saint and spoke of his “pride” in being “English”.

    Fair enough, he is English .

    However as a UK party leader is he then not also supposed to be ‘neutral’ , so if he, as the official opposition leader, makes a video for ONE nation in the UK to celebrate their patron saint should he also then not do that for ALL nations within the UK, if that is, he , prior to the 2024 GE, wanted to be the next UK PM ?

    (The same UK that supposedly, via reserved policies, represents all nations both within and outwith the UK)????

    Starmer in the St George’s day video also spoke of us ( ?) having “pride in our (?) country, so he did seem to be promoting a confused message in presenting England as somehow being synonymous with his UK.

    He also stated that “it’s a daily reminder of what Labour is and who it serves”, yes we all know who Labour serves within the UK, that would seemingly only be the one nation within the UK, who via their votes, gets to be King makers at WM in UK GE’s.

    One wonders what celebration will be on offer for St George’s day this year from Keir and UK Labour, I dread to think, but I suspect it might not just be a tweet sent out to people in England on St George’s day.

    So vote SNP in 2026, as if you vote for Labour , you will then be voting to still be patronised and also to continue to be overlooked (ignored) by UK Labour as a citizen in Scotland.

    The Same Scotland whose citizens are seemingly not ‘Allowed’ to have pride in Scotland as a country, as Labour prefers our pride in Scotland was shelved, and that we, as Scots, only reserved our pride for their Britain, with a British nationalism that they disguise as patriotism, but that also then verges into a Britain that is then synonymous with England.

    National identity ? That depends on what nation or state we are referring to .

    Apparently national pride and identity is also only RESERVED for some within the UK, as far as UK parties and UK governments are concerned.

    Liz S

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    1. Keir Starmer as PM did host a Burns night in Downing Street in January 2025, but just think about this….

      Firstly the previous Tory PM’s always did this too when the Tories were in charge as the UK government.

      Secondly , in January 2025, the papers were reporting that the SNP had a significant lead over the Labour party, and with the 2026 Scottish elections coming up then Starmer had to continue with this Burns night celebrational tradition at Downing Street……politics see.

      Liz S

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