Poll shows SNP depute leader Angus Robertson on course to lose seat

SNP depute leader Angus Robertson is on course to lose his seat in the General Election, according to analysis of a new poll.

The survey, carried out for The Herald by BMG, puts support for the SNP at 43%, 13 points above the Scottish Conservatives on 30%.

It has Labour on 18%, the Liberal Democrats at 5% and the Scottish Greens at 2%, after "don't knows" have been excluded.

According to the Electoral Calculus projector, the SNP would lose seats to the Tories.

Constituencies the Scottish Conservatives would seize include Aberdeen South, Aberdeenshire West and Kincardine, Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk, as well as Dumfries and Galloway, the analysis suggests.

Mr Robertson, who is standing for re-election in Moray, would not be re-elected, projections suggest, while shadow SNP Westminster group leader Peter Wishart would also lose his seat of Perth and North Perthshire.

The survey, which was carried out before the Manchester bomb attack, claims the number of Scottish Tory MPs would rise from one to eight.

On Thursday, a separate poll conducted by Ipsos Mori for STV, put the SNP on 43%, the Tories and Labour on 25% each, and the Lib Dems on 5%.

Commenting on The Herald poll, SNP election campaign manager Derek Mackay, said: “This poll was taken over two weeks ago - but like all other polls, it shows that only a vote for the SNP can keep the Tories out.

“Labour can't win the election in Scotland - and a vote for them just risks letting a Tory MP in the back door.

“Now, more than ever, it is vital to have strong SNP voices standing up for Scotland at Westminster.''

A Scottish Labour Spokesman said: “Polls conducted more recently than this one show Labour on a much higher share of the vote, but what appears consistent is that support for the SNP is on the slide thanks to the threat of a second independence referendum.

“A vote for Labour on June 8 is a vote to oppose the SNP's plan to divide Scotland again, and to end austerity across the UK.”

A spokesman for the Scottish Conservatives said: “This is very clear evidence that there is only one party in Scotland capable of standing up to the SNP.

“All across the country people are looking to the Scottish Conservatives to keep Scotland as a key part of the UK, and utterly oppose a second independence referendum.”