London--Britain's opposition Labour party is in danger of losing over three-quarters of its seats in Scotland at the upcoming general election, damaging its chances of an outright victory, according to a poll published Wednesday.
The poll of Scottish constituencies, conducted by former Conservative Party deputy chairman Michael Ashcroft, found there would be a minimum 21 percent swing to the Scottish National Party (SNP) if the election were held tomorrow.
If repeated across Scotland in the vote due in May, 35 of Labour's 41 seats in the territory could be lost, although the pollsters warned that the swing would not be uniform.
"Even so, the prospect of losing heartland seats will be a blow to Labour's hopes: every seat they lose in Scotland means another they have to win from the Conservatives in England," Ashcroft said on the website Conservative Home.
Of the 59 seats in Scotland, the SNP currently holds six and Labour 41, with the Liberal Democrats in charge of 11 and the Tories one.
On current polling, both Labour and the Tories will fail to win enough seats nationwide to gain outright victory, raising the prospects of another coalition or a minority government with support in parliament.
The survey, which was conducted in January among 16,000 voters in 16 Scottish constituencies, also spelt bad news for two of Westminster's big hitters.
The poll gave the SNP an eight-point lead over Labour's shadow foreign secretary Douglas Alexander.
Liberal Democrat treasury minister Danny Alexander also faces defeat to the SNP, while SNP's former leader Alex Salmond looked set for a comfortable win.
Despite losing a referendum on Scottish independence last year, Salmond's own popularity and that of his party has gone from strength to strength.
Their rise is most threatening to Labour, which traditionally counted Scotland as a solid source of seats.
Voters have complained about Labour leader Ed Miliband and say that the party has become too London-centred.
AFP
