Tory support in Scotland rises to 33%, poll shows

A third of Scottish voters are backing the Tories, according to fresh polling conducted after Theresa May called a snap election.

The Panelbase survey, commissioned by The Sunday Times Scotland, shows 33% backing Ruth Davidson’s party in general election voting intentions, suggesting it could be on course to win a clutch of new seats in Scotland in June.

The Tories, who are campaigning on a message of opposing the SNP’s bid for a second independence referendum, currently have one Scottish MP – David Mundell.

Support for the party is up on the 2015 general election result, where they took almost 15% of the vote, and up from 28% in a previous Panelbase poll conducted in March.

The new poll also shows the SNP on 44%, down from 47% in last month’s poll and from almost 50% in the 2015 election. The party won 56 out of 59 Scottish seats in 2015 and is still on course to take home a majority on June 8.

Support for Labour has dropped to 13% from 14% last month and just over 24% in 2015. With only one MP, Ian Murray, the party faces a battle to maintain a Scottish presence at Westminster.

Among the other parties, the Lib Dems are backed by 5% of voters, up one percentage point from March, while Ukip and the Greens are supported by 2% of voters each, both down from 3%.

A second poll by Survation, commissioned by the Sunday Post, found support for the SNP at 43%, with the Tories on 28%. Scottish Labour lag behind with just under 18% while the Lib Dems recorded almost 9%.

The pollster also asked respondents about independence, with 53% saying they would vote No in a referendum and 47% backing Yes, when those who are undecided are excluded.

Survation asked whether, in the event of another Conservative majority government, voters would be more or less likely to support independence.

A total of 37.9% said such a result would make them more likely, 15.5% less likely, 39.8% no more or less and 6.7% were not sure.