Out of touch, incompetent and unpopular: SNP support slumps to its lowest since 2014 referendum under new First Minister Humza Yousaf as only a fifth of voters say he is doing a good job
- YouGov poll shows SNP have fallen to 38% in Holyrood constituency vote share
Two-fifths of voters think new Scottish First Minister Humza Yousaf is incompetent, weak, and out of touch, a poll has revealed.
The SNP leader, who replaced Nicola Sturgeon last month, was dealt a further blow as the YouGov survey also showed support for his party has slumped to its lowest level since the 2014 Scottish independence referendum.
Mr Yousaf took over as first minister following a divisive SNP leadership contest, in which his past record as a Scottish Government minister was torn apart by his rivals.
He has since seen the SNP’s former chief executive Peter Murrell, the husband of Ms Sturgeon, and SNP treasurer Colin Beattie arrested as part of a police investigation into the party’s finances.
There has also been a dramatic police search of Mr Murrell and Ms Sturgeon’s house.
Two-fifths of voters think new Scottish First Minister Humza Yousaf is incompetent, weak, and out of touch, a poll has revealed
The YouGov survey showed the SNP had fallen to 38 per cent in Scottish Parliament constituency vote share
The regional vote share put the SNP on 30 per cent, which is their lowest share of the vote since just before the 2014 Scottish independence referendum
The YouGov poll revealed further signs that voters are turning away from the SNP amid the party’s turmoil.
In their first voting intention survey since Mr Yousaf became first minister, the YouGov research showed the SNP had fallen to 38 per cent in Scottish Parliament constituency vote share.
This is the party’s joint-lowest share since the independence referendum in 2014.
As recently as December, the SNP had been on 50 per cent in constituency voting intention among Scottish voters.
Labour’s constituency vote share of 30 per cent is the party’s highest since immediately prior to the 2014 referendum, while the Tories were on 16 per cent and the Liberal Democrats on 10 per cent in this week’s poll.
The regional share when people were asked who they would vote for at a Holyrood election put the SNP on 30 per cent, which is their lowest share of the vote since just before the referendum and is a 10-point drop since late last year.
When asked who they would vote for at a general election, the SNP were backed by 37 per cent of Scottish voters (down two points from last month), while Labour were on 28 per cent and the Tories on 17 per cent.
Mr Yousaf has been dubbed ‘Humza Useless’ by critics due to his ministerial record from his time in the Scottish Government.
His leadership rival Kate Forbes used the recent SNP leadership contest to accuse Mr Yousaf of overseeing failures across the country’s transport, justice and health systems in past roles.
The YouGov survey revealed almost two-fifths (39 per cent) of Scottish voters thought Mr Yousaf was ‘incompetent’, compared to 26 per cent who thought he was ‘competent’.
The poll also showed 45 per cent believed the first minister was ‘weak’, compared to 18 per cent who said he was ‘strong’; while 44 per cent said the SNP leader was ‘out of touch with ordinary people’, compared to 26 per cent who said he was ‘in touch with ordinary people’.
Scottish voters thought Mr Yousaf was doing a bad job by a margin of 44 per cent to 19 per cent, the survey revealed.
It also showed more than half of the Scottish public (53 per cent) viewed the SNP as a divided party following their current woes, compared to 29 per cent who saw it as united.
Mr Yousaf has seen the SNP’s ex-chief executive Peter Murrell, the husband of Nicola Sturgeon, and SNP treasurer Colin Beattie arrested as part of a police investigation
More than two-fifths (43 per cent) believed Ms Sturgeon should be suspended from the SNP amid the police probe into the SNP’s finances
More than two-fifths (43 per cent) believed Ms Sturgeon should be suspended from the SNP amid the police investigation into the party’s finances, compared to 31 per cent who thought she shouldn’t.
According to polling expert Professor Sir John Curtice, the Westminster voting intention poll by YouGov indicated the SNP would pick up 34 seats at a general election, with Labour taking 14, the Tories six and the Lib Dems five.
At the 2019 general election, the SNP won 48 out of 59 Scottish constituencies, while Labour won one seat.
Sir John told The Times the SNP’s divisive leadership contest and ongoing police investigation had ‘taken their toll on SNP support’ but the party ‘is far from being in electoral meltdown’.
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