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Thursday 05 May 2016 11:27 am

Scottish parliamentary election: Scottish National Party’s support falls as Labour and the Conservatives vie for second place

By: James Nickerson

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A final poll for the Holyrood election shows support for the Scottish National Party (SNP) to have fallen, with a decline in voter satisfaction with its record.

The poll by YouGov found the SNP still dominates support, but that the party may now fail to surpass the 2011 landslide victory, when the party won 69 seats.

Read more: Scottish parliamentary election looks bleak for Labour

Support for the SNP was recorded at 48 per cent on the constituency vote, down two points, and 41 per cent on the regional vote. On overall satisfaction, YouGov said the party has fallen to seven points from 13.

In the Scottish parliamentary election voters are given two votes. Scotland is divided into 73 constituencies and each constituency selects one MSP, while a regional vote is used to elect 56 additional members.

To win a majority in Holyrood First Minister Nicola Sturgeon's party would need to take 65 seats.

Read more: Most Scots want to remain part of the EU

Last week a TNS poll also found a drop in support for the SNP, which benefited both Labour and the Conservatives.

The Labour manifesto pledges to raise the top rate of tax to 50 per cent, as well as one pence rises in rates of other bands. The party said it was necessary to guarantee the higher investment needed in education, health and job creation.

The Tory manifesto promises to campaign against two SNP policies that have proved controversial: the Named Persons Act, which aims to appoint a "named person" for every child; and cuts to college places.

Both the Conservatives and Labour have (tacitly, at least) accepted that the SNP will dominate the election, and are instead vying for second place.

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