Jim Murphy, the leader of the Labour Party in Scotland, is trailing the Scottish National Party (SNP) by nine points in his seat of East Renfrewshire, according to new polling by Lord Ashcroft.
In a poll of voting intentions in eight key Scottish seats, Ashcroft found the Nationalists ahead in all but one, with senior figures in both Labour and the Liberal Democrats facing defeat in next month’s general election.
Douglas Alexander, a senior figure in the Labour Party who was widely tipped to become Foreign Secretary if it wins the election, also faces losing his Paisley seat to the SNP; the Ashcroft poll has him 11 points behind the nationalists with just 19 days to go.
Two former leaders of the Liberal Democrats are also facing wipe out at the hands of the Nationalists. Sir Menzies Campbell, who served as leader from 2005 to 2007, is 13 points behind in North East Fife, and Charles Kennedy, who led the party from 1999 to 2006, trails by 15 points in Ross, Skye and Lochaber.
Although the Conservatives are two points behind in their only Scottish seat – Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale & Tweeddale – they are one point ahead in a different seat. Lib Dem-held Berwickshire, Roxburgh & Selkirk is too close to call between the Conservatives (30 points), SNP (29 percent) and Liberal Democrats (28 percent).
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