THE SNP have come out top in a new poll on voting intentions for the Holyrood election with voters saying the First Minister has done a good job during the Covid crisis.
The Lord Ashcroft poll surveyed 2017 Scottish adults between April 7 and 19 on a range of issues with results weighted to be representative of all adults.
Some 49% of respondents said they would give their constituency vote to the SNP next week.
It also showed that support for independence was neck-and-neck with 49% of voters backing Yes and 51% backing No, with don't knows excluded.
The Scottish Tories came in at a distant second place with 21% backing them at the constituency level. Labour came third on 17%, the LibDems followed on 8% and the Scottish Greens – only standing in 12 of the 73 Scottish constituencies – recorded 4%.
READ MORE: Scots heap praise on 'lioness' Nicola Sturgeon – and mock 'mosquito' Boris Johnson
The poll also asked voters to rate how likely they were to vote for a party on May 6 from 0 to 100 – the higher the number meaning they are more likely to vote for them.
The SNP also came out on top with the average likelihood of voters leaning towards the party in the first vote at 93/100.
Results were similarly high for the Tories (88) and Labour, the Greens and LibDems all had an average score of 85/100.
When it came to the regional list vote, the SNP were again the top choice with 42% and the Tories were backed by 22% of voters. Labour came third again (16%), but the Greens managed 9% with the LibDems on 7%. Alba and Reform UK each got 2% of the list vote.
More than half of voters also believed the Scottish Government (60%), the SNP (54%) and Nicola Sturgeon (64%) have handled the Covid pandemic well.
Across all political parties – even a third (32%) of Scottish Tory supporters – felt Sturgeon had done a good job as First Minister during the crisis.
READ MORE: Poll predicts SNP, Greens and Alba will form large pro-independence majority
The poll also asked people about the most important issues facing Scotland, asking them to rank which of a list of 25 they saw as the most important.
The top issues for all voters were healthcare and the NHS (43%), Covid-19 (42%) and the economy (33%).
The analysis then broke down what voters of different parties think are the main issues.
Covid-19 came out as the top issue for SNP, Labour and LibDem voters. It was second for Green voters, but did not feature in the top three for those intending to vote for the Tories.
Healthcare and the NHS came second for voters of all parties apart from the Greens where it came top.
Green voters chose climate and the environment as their third most important issue while those backing Labour and the LibDems chose the economy.
Preventing another Scottish independence referendum was as important for Tory voters as healthcare and the NHS.
Getting another referendum was the third most important issue for SNP voters, eight points behind healthcare and the NHS.
On independence, the vast majority (84%) of SNP voters were in favour. By contrast, some 95% of Tory voters were against independence.
Among Scottish Labour, and Scottish Liberal Democrats supporters 75% and 79% respectively opposed separation from the UK.
Of those who voted Yes to independence in 2014, 82% said they would do so again in a new referendum, while 11% would now vote No. Among those who voted No in 2014, 79% would do so again, 15% would now back independence.
Responding to the poll, SNP Depute Leader Keith Brown (below) said: “With the strong and experienced leadership of Nicola Sturgeon voting SNP will keep Scotland in safe hands during these serious times.
"However, this election remains poised on a knife-edge in terms of whether the SNP will win an overall majority, underlining the importance of giving both votes to the SNP to re-elect Nicola Sturgeon.
“This poll demonstrates that people recognise the strong leadership shown by the First Minister throughout the pandemic and into recovery.
“The SNP has delivered a bold and ambitious programme for the future which is in stark contrast to the petty political game-playing by the Tories, Labour and the Lib Dems.
“In just over a week, the people of Scotland will face a choice of whether to put Scotland’s future in the hands of the sleaze-ridden Boris Johnson government or into our own hands with Both Votes SNP.”
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