UK's Labour ahead of SNP in Scotland for first time in a decade, YouGov poll shows

LONDON (Reuters) – Britain’s main opposition Labour Party is polling ahead of the Scottish National Party (SNP) for the first time in Scotland since an independence referendum almost a decade ago, a YouGov survey showed on Wednesday.

Regaining ground in its former Scottish heartlands is key for Labour’s hopes of winning the next national election, expected later this year, and the poll gave Labour 33% of support in Scotland, compared to 31% for the pro-independence SNP.

That is Labour’s first lead over the SNP in voting intention in Scotland for the UK election since June 2014, YouGov said, though a projection last week showed Labour were set to win more seats than the SNP in Scotland too.

Scotland voted by 55% to 45% to remain part of the United Kingdom at a referendum in September 2014, but the momentum of that campaign and popularity of former leader Nicola Sturgeon have helped propel the SNP to a dominant position in Scotland since the 2015 national election.

However, the party’s fortunes have since waned, and Sturgeon resigned a year ago in a shock move amid questions over her strategy for pursuing a new independence vote and a police probe into the party’s finances.

The YouGov poll showed appetite for Scottish independence was unchanged, with 53% supporting remaining in the UK and 47% backing independence.

YouGov polled 1,100 adults in Scotland between March 25 and April 2.

(Reporting by Alistair Smout; Editing by Sachin Ravikumar)