Humiliation for candidates as voters say they don’t rate ANY of them

NONE of the SNP leadership candidates is rated favourably by the public, a poll shows.

It found that, while still unpopular, Kate Forbes was the favoured candidate among the public, but Humza Yousaf was ahead among SNP voters.

The Ipsos poll of 1,023 Scottish adults published yesterday showed that, among all voters, 35 per cent had an unfavourable view of Ms Forbes, 42 per cent for Mr Yousaf and 38 per cent for Ash Regan.

For those who had favourable views of the candidates, only 27 per cent did for Ms Forbes, compared to 22 per cent for Mr Yousaf and 14 per cent for Ms Regan.

It means none of the candidates had a positive net favourability score. Among

‘Sturgeon much better regarded’

SNP voters, Mr Yousaf had a +11 favourability rating, followed by +6 for Ms Forbes and 7 for Ms Regan.

Emily Gray, managing director of Ipsos in Scotland, said: ‘As the SNP leadership contest nears its close, neither Humza Yousaf nor Kate Forbes has managed to open up a clear lead among the party’s voters – though of course it is the party membership who will decide.

‘Meanwhile, as Nicola Sturgeon prepares to step down as First Minister she remains much better regarded by the public than any of the three candidates to succeed her, or any of the other Scottish party leaders.’

The poll also showed that the proportion of people saying they felt favourable towards the SNP has fallen by one percentage point since last month, to 38 per cent. This compares to 29 per cent for Labour, 15 per cent for the Conservatives, 26 per cent for the Greens and 15 per cent for the Liberal Democrats.

Some 39 per cent said they felt unfavourable towards the SNP, compared with 33 per cent for Labour, 57 per cent for the Conservatives, 40 per cent for the Greens and 37 per cent for the Lib Dems.

Meanwhile, Reform Scotland has condemned Ms Sturgeon for her ‘poor relationship’ with businesses and called for her successor to ‘urgently reset’.

In a paper looking at the main issues the incoming leader should focus on, the think tank recommends a new ‘social insurance fund’ from higher taxes to pay for social care, rather than the bureaucratic behemoth of a national care service. It also wants education bodies to be overhauled, and a clear plan set out to achieve Scotland’s net zero emissions target.

Reform Scotland director Chris Deerin said: ‘A thriving business community is essential to Scotland’s welfare. It is where new jobs are created, where economic growth occurs and where tax revenues are generated.

‘And yet a continued complaint during Nicola Sturgeon’s tenure has been of a poor relationship with the sector.

‘The next First Minister must urgently reset this relationship. They need to listen to, and work with, the business community.’

He added: ‘The national care service should be scrapped and a new social insurance fund established to pay for social care, with the help of a 1p increase in income tax to start paying for it.

‘To improve performance in schools the Scottish Government first needs to be honest and accept that standards have fallen relative to other countries and that there has been little progress made in closing the attainment gap.

‘Reinstating Scotland’s participation in the TIMSS and PIRLS international studies, along with a replacement for the Scottish Study of Literacy and Numeracy, would help measure the work that needs to be done.’

‘Standards have fallen’