ELECTION EARTHQUAKE

New poll predicts disaster for Swinney with 30 SNP seats lost | Labour projected to have 28 Scots MPs in 14-year high

- PAUL HUTCHEON

THE SNP is set to lose 30 seats at the General Election as Labour become the biggest party in Scotland again, according to a new poll.

The survey shows the Nationalists being reduced to 16 MPs from 48 at the last election and Anas Sarwar’s party soaring to 28 seats.

Sarwar and UK Labour leader Keir Starmer also have a better approval rating than First Minister John Swinney in the new poll.

The SNP have dominated elections in Scotland for more than a decade and they cleaned up at the 2019 Westminster election.

They won 48 seats while Labour returned Ian Murray as their solitary MP – with a second seat added when Michael Shanks won the Rutherglen by-election.

The Survation poll, commissioned by political think tank True North, shows Scotland is headed for an electoral earthquake.

According to the findings, 36 per cent of Scots will vote Labour at the election, with 32 per cent plumping for the SNP.

The survey shows the Tories and Lib Dems on 17 per cent and nine per cent respectively.

On these figures, Labour would return 28 MPs – their biggest total since 2010.

According to the poll, Starmer has emerged as the most popular leader of a Westminster party in Scotland, with a net favourability rating of +3 per cent.

Sarwar stood at -3 per cent and Swinney was on -7 per cent.