LABOUR’S standing as the party of the left has been called into question by academics who found that less than half of their voters back left-wing policies.

Strathclyde University researchers found the party’s voters are not as left-leaning as they claim to be and are considerably less left-wing than those who back the SNP.

The findings were based on the responses of more than 10,000 people who completed an online voter guidance tool, which asks for users’ party preferences and political leanings before quizzing them on policies.

Just 44 per cent of Labour supporters backed policies deemed left-wing while nearly three-quarters (73 per cent) of SNP supporters gave left-wing responses. Users were asked to rate themselves left- or right-wing on a sliding scale.

Almost the same proportion of Labour (59 per cent) and SNP voters (62 per cent) described themselves as far- to centre-left, but Labour voters were less likely to give a “left-wing response” to policy choices. Academics described the mismatch as a “paradox”.

Labour has pledged to “keep university tuition fees free” and described paid fees as a dishonest “stealth tax”.

But two-fifths (40 per cent) of Labour voters said students should pay tuition fees and less than half (47 per cent) think they should be free.

In contrast, 83 per cent of SNP supporters back fee-free education and 12 per cent oppose it.

Labour has pledged “radical” land reform to “tackle the concentrated pattern of land ownership” and also to “empower crofting communities”.

However, nearly a third (32 per cent) of Labour voters did not think crofters should be able to force the sale of private estates.

Slightly more Labour voters (42 per cent) said crofters should be able to force sales, considerably fewer than SNP voters (68 per cent).

About one in 10 Labour voters oppose raising benefits while little more than half back a benefits hike, compared with almost three-quarters of SNP voters who backed raising benefits.

The study stated: “Across all of the relevant items in the tool, 73 per cent of SNP voters can be classified as left-wing while 44 per cent of Labour supporters fall into this category.”

John Curtice, Professor of Politics at Strathclyde, said: “On a number of key issues, Labour voters are apparently less keen than SNP supporters on government intervention. The electoral battle between Labour and the SNP at this election is apparently not just about whether Scotland should or should not be in the UK, but also reflects a divergence of view on how big a role voters think the government should play in Scotland.”

Meanwhile, the latest poll published yesterday continued to put Nicola Sturgeon’s party in a dominant position ahead of next week’s election.

The TNS survey found support for the party on the constituency vote stands at 52 per cent – down four percentage points since the company’s previous poll last month and down eight points from a peak of 60 per cent, recorded two months ago.

Labour, which on Wednesday was being forecast to come third in a poll for STV, was yesterday being predicted to narrowly hold on to second place with 22 per cent support in the constituencies, compared to 17 per cent for the Tories. The Liberal Democrats polled seven per cent.

Support for the SNP has also dipped slightly on the regional vote, down two points to 45 per cent compared with last month’s TNS poll.

Meanwhile, Labour is up one point to 22 per cent, the Tories are up three points to 18 per cent, the Lib Dems have dropped a point to five per cent and support for the Greens remains unchanged at eight per cent.

The poll of 1,035 people was conducted between April 1 and last Sunday, and found 67 per cent of people claim they are certain to vote.

Tom Costley, head of TNS Scotland, said: “The polls suggest the Labour Party is still struggling to match the share of the vote they achieved in 2011, let alone begin a recovery.

“The Conservative Party do not yet appear to be in a position which will see them replacing Labour as the official opposition.”

Those polled were also asked about their voting intentions in the EU referendum.

Support for staying in the EU has dropped three points from last month to 48 per cent, while 21 per cent back leaving – up two points. The remaining 31 per cent said they did not know.





Tariq Ali: We need constructive left opposition to be a foil to the dominance of neo-liberalism

