A LEAKED report warns Scottish Labour they are in "peril" as the majority of voters show support Nicola Sturgeon.
Labour figures have recently called on Richard Leonard to resign ahead of next year’s Holyrood election. Under the leader’s watch, Scottish Labour fell to fifth place at the European Parliament election and lost six out of seven Westminster seats at the 2019 General Election.
The report, put together by think tank Our Scottish Future and leaked to the Daily Record, was sent out to MSPs.
READ MORE: Labour are ‘weak link in union chain’, polling expert says
It warns the party is in “peril” and polling has “consistently indicated seat losses” for over a year.
The report also said Scottish Labour politicians have a “limited audience” online – and showed a bar chart revealing Leonard’s social media reach is significantly behind that of senior SNP politicians.
Recent polling from YouGov found that Leonard is not known to 56% of voters. Yesterday’s Scottish Parliament voting intentions survey from the same company puts Labour on a grim 14% in the constituency and list votes.
The Our Scottish Future report told MSPs: “In Nicola Sturgeon, Labour are facing a popular and highly effective politician who is capable of consistently elevating her party.”
They showed a Panelbase poll putting the First Minister’s net approval rating at +57 among people who voted Labour in 2019.
The “strategic overview” concludes that the party will need to win younger and female voters if it wants to succeed. It also warns that Labour’s support for federalism has “limited cut-through with the population”.
READ MORE: Top Labour backer adds to calls for 'invisible' Richard Leonard to quit
Though the document is unpleasant reading for Leonard, Keith Brown, the SNP depute leader, said it doesn’t matter who is in charge of Scottish Labour – as long as they are “hitched to Westminster control of Scotland they are doomed”.
He went on: “They have long since lost the trust of the people of Scotland for standing shoulder to shoulder with their Better Together Tory pals while their promises of a mythical federalism have been broken so often no one is gullible enough to believe them anymore.
“Under Nicola Sturgeon’s effective government Scotland continues to forge ahead while Scottish Labour is stuck in the past, fighting amongst themselves and doomed to total irrelevance.”
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