Tories at record low in Scotland

(First Edition)

LABOUR last night surged to an astonishing a 43-point lead in Scotland over the Tories, who have sunk to a record low of 10 per cent, according to an new opinion poll.

The System Three poll to be published tomorrow today in for the Herald newspaper, in Glasgow, suggests Labour has put on nine 9 points in the space of a month, to reach 53 per cent.

The result came just after a Gallup poll in the Daily Telegraph on the mood throughout Britain showed Labour a remarkable 33 points ahead of the Conservatives who were pushed into third place, half-a-point behind the Liberal Democrats.

The figures in Scotland are almost certain to be clouded by a huge element of Scottish sympathy after the the death on May 12 of the Labour leader, John Smith on 12 May. The Tories, however, dropped 4 per cent from their already humiliating 14 per cent.

The poll has the SNP in second place, down from 27 to 24 per cent; and the Liberal Democrats third on 12 per cent, down 2 per cent.