PARTY RATINGS AND SCOTTISH PARLIAMENT ELECTION

Motion Text

That this House welcomes the System Three opinion poll published in the Herald newspaper on Monday 11th February, which shows that the gap between the SNP and New Labour for a Scottish Parliament election is less than it was at the equivalent point in the run-up to the 1999 election, a gap of 11 points in February 1998 having become just three points on the PR vote and nine points on the first-past-the-post ballot; notes that Tory ratings are also down; believes that this shows that the SNP are entering the 2003 Scottish elections with a much stronger base of support even than going into 1999; and further believes that as New labour's problems of sleaze and cronyism grow, Labour ratings will keep going down and the SNP will continue to advance.