First Minister ‘in denial’ after her popularity rating plunges
NICOLA Sturgeon was accused of being ‘in denial’ yesterday after she failed to accept that her calls for a second independence referendum has caused her popularity to plummet.
The First Minister was carrying out a desperate whistle-stop tour of Edinburgh constituencies where the SNP faces possible defeat.
Earlier this week a poll showed she had become Scotland’s most unpopular party leader. But yesterday Miss Sturgeon refused to accept the drop in her personal ratings is the result of her push for a rerun of the 2014 referendum.
She failed to answer when asked three times to explain the reasons for her falling popularity, and instead claimed her focus was on the General Election.
A poll published on Wednesday showed a 7 per cent fall in support for the SNP since 2015, leaving several senior Nationalist candidates facing defeat.
It also indicated that most Scots, 57 per cent, are opposed to another referendum before Brexit.
The Ipsos Mori survey put Miss Sturgeon’s approval rating at -4, down 18 points since September.
The SNP faces the prospect of defeat in three Edinburgh constituencies, including Edinburgh South West where Joanna Cherry is hoping to regain her Westminster seat.
Miss Sturgeon joined Miss Cherry in Oxgangs yesterday on the first stop of her capital tour.
After being asked three times why her personal ratings had slumped, the First Minister said: ‘We are in an election campaign. What matters to me is that the SNP win this election. And the SNP are the best part of 20 points ahead of our nearest rivals so we’ll continue to campaign, get our message across and work for a victory next Thursday. My concern is the SNP winning the election, that’s what I’m focused on and what I’ll continue to focus on.’
Scottish Labour General Election campaign manager James Kelly said: ‘Nicola Sturgeon is clearly in denial. Her obsession with a divisive second independence referendum has infuriated the majority of Scots who want to move on from the arguments of the past.’
Miss Cherry faces a fight against Tory MSP Miles Briggs to regain her Edinburgh South West seat, which is a key Conservative target.
The Nationalist candidate, a QC, faces the prospect of a probe by the Faculty of Advocates after being accused of a smear attempt against a nurse who hit out at Miss Sturgeon during a live TV debate.
The First Minister later visited Muirhouse in Edinburgh West, which was won for the SNP by Michelle Thomson in 2015, but she was forced to resign the party whip following a police investigation.
Miss Sturgeon also appeared in Edinburgh South where Labour’s Ian Murray is hoping to keep his seat at Westminster
Scottish Conservative candidate for Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk, John Lamont, said Miss Sturgeon’s refusal to take Indyref 2 off the table had ‘clearly damaged her reputation in the eyes of many voters’.
‘Infuriated the majority of Scots’