Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

General Election 2015: SNP support hits historic high

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, visiting a school club in Loanhead, Midlothian,
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, visiting a school club in Loanhead, Midlothian,

Support fot the SNP has risen to its highest ever level in the wake of the initial TV leaders debates – with almost half of Scots backing the party.

A poll by YouGov showed Nicola Sturgeon’s party on 49%, a three point increase since last month.

The SNP now enjoys a 29-point lead over Labour, which was down 2% since March and on course for its worst result in Scotland since 1918.

Meanwhile support for the Conservatives was up two points at 18% and backing for the Liberal Democrats was up one point at 4%.

If translated into actual votes, the SNP would win 53 seats, leaving Labour with just four, and one each for the Tories and Lib Dems.

Ms Sturgeon was viewed to be the winner in the first Scottish leaders TV debate on Tuesday by 56% of those surveyed, compared to 14% for Scottish Tory leader Ruth Davidson and 13% for Labour’s Jim Murphy.

SNP general election campaign director Angus Robertson said: “This poll is a very welcome indication that people across Scotland are responding positively to the SNP’s message of delivering jobs and growth in place of Westminster cuts.

“It encourages us to keep working hard to ensure that Scotland’s voice is heard at Westminster with a strong team of SNP MPs.

“And the resounding win the poll records for Nicola Sturgeon in this week’s two-hour STV debate adds to the momentum and energy of the SNP campaign.

“As welcome as this poll is, we take absolutely nothing for granted – we are speaking to people on the doorsteps and in communities all across Scotland to earn their trust.

The results were polled before the second Scottish leaders’ debate in Aberdeen on Wednesday evening.

A Scottish Labour spokesman said: “If this poll is repeated on election day the SNP will be delighted, but David Cameron will be ecstatic.

“The Tories can’t win in Scotland so need to rely on the SNP taking seats from Labour. A vote for anyone other than Labour risks the Tories being the largest party across the UK and David Cameron sneaking back into Downing Street.

“That would be a disaster for Scotland, but it’s what will happen if people vote SNP.”