A poll for The Independent newspaper shows the LibDems have slumped to their lowest ever UK rating.
The survey is a weighted average of the regular surveys by ComRes, ICM, Ipsos MORI and YouGov, and puts the party on just 11% – which is their lowest level since 1988 when the party was formed.
The result, if replicated at a UK General Election, would see Nick Clegg’s party decimated with 57 MPs being reduced to a paltry 15.
This UK poll follows a recent poll in Scotland that put the party’s Scottish wing on 11 per cent in the Holyrood constituency vote and just 9 per cent in the regional vote, down around 10 points on their Scottish general election figures.
The beneficiaries of the LibDem vote collapse in Scotland appears to be the SNP who have risen 11-12 points since the May general election with Labour and the Tories both dropping slightly.
The SNP’s Campaign Director Angus Robertson MP has put the decline of the LibDems down to their decision to prop up a Tory government at Westminster and says that ‘they should be right to be scared of the Scottish electorate come May’.
Mr Robertson said:
“The LibDems sold their soul by going into coalition with the Tories at Westminster and, in doing so, sold Scotland out.
“Their dramatic decline since May last year is a direct consequence of putting the Tories into power – a party clearly rejected by the people of Scotland – and they will face a reckoning north of the Border at the Holyrood elections come May.
“The people of Scotland did not vote for a Tory Government, however Danny Alexander and co have foisted that on us. The LibDems have no trust left, no respect and no future in Scotland.
“Only the SNP stand for a better Scotland, and we are confident our positive message will earn the trust of the people come May.”
Only last week Scottish leader Tavish Scott admitted that his Scottish party faced a tough battle to maintain their current Scottish standing and blamed the UK party’s coalition with the Tories and recent decisions over tuition fees and backing for Tory public spending cuts.
Professor John Curtis of Strathclyde University, who compiled the figures, claimed that the LibDems were ‘taking the hit’ for the unpopular coalition decisions and said: “It is clear that the tone and direction of the Coalition Government has upset many people who voted Liberal Democrat in May, and before, while for the most part those who voted Conservative have been reasonably content with what has transpired,” professor Curtis added: “Mr Clegg has clearly taken a serious hit personally,”.
