SNP - In Freefall In Falkirk?
SNP bosses are having nightmares about their chances of holding on to some of their safest seats, according to the Scottish Sun.
Michael Matheson represents Falkirk West in the Scottish Parliament and I suspect the huge controversy over his roaming charges will have damaged the SNP locally.
NAT MARE
SNP bosses fear they could lose their safest seat after nightmare poll predicts huge swing to Labour
Senior Nats sources say Falkirk will be lost as polling looks "atrocious"
By Conor Matchett - Scottish Sun
SNP chiefs fear they could lose the seat where they bagged their biggest majority at the 2019 General Election, it emerged yesterday.
The Nats have done polling in constituencies including Falkirk, where they won by 14,948 votes.
SNP chiefs fear they could lose the seat where they bagged their biggest majority at the 2019 General Election, it emerged yesterday.
The Nats have done polling in constituencies including Falkirk, where they won by 14,948 votes.
And insiders revealed fears the seat — hit by SNP infighting over candidate selection — could fall to Labour at the Westminster election next year.
Last night, a senior Nats source said: “Polling is looking atrocious and we’re going to lose Falkirk.”
In 2019, the SNP won 48 out of 59 seats in Scotland, with Labour getting just one.
But latest national polls put Labour and the SNP neck and neck in Scotland.
It follows a Nats slump and a surge for Sir Keir Starmer’s party, which could see them return more than 20 MPs — all at the expense of Humza Yousaf.
SNP figures also reckon boundary changes to the Falkirk constituency have made the seat much harder to retain, despite the mammoth lead in 2019.
Four years ago, the Tories came in second in the patch. Labour dropped its candidate Safia Ali after nominations closed over alleged anti-Semitic Facebook posts.
This time, SNP chiefs fear Labour could win.
However, others in the party rejected the suggestion the seat was a “write-off” — and insisted the right SNP candidate could still win.
We revealed last week the SNP’s current wannabe-MP for Falkirk, Toni Giugliano, leaned on a rival and promised sweeteners if they withdrew from the bitter internal selection battle that he narrowly won.
The SNP’s policy convenor at the time could face an internal investigation after complaints were lodged by infuriated local activists.
Mr Giugliano, 38, denied the allegations. The Scottish Sun revealed he told one opponent that if he dropped out, “there’s things that I could do for you”.
Falkirk has been an SNP stronghold, represented by veteran MP John McNally, since a Nats 2015 landslide.
It was previously held by Eric Joyce, who was thrown out of Scottish Labour for assaulting other MPs. The seat is the SNP’s biggest majority, and their sixth safest seat in terms of winning percentages.
Aberdeen North, represented by Kirsty Blackman, is the Nats’ safest seat, with a winning margin of more than 33 per cent.
Dundee East and Dundee West, represented by Stewart Hosie and Chris Law respectively, have the next biggest winning margins of just over 29 per cent.
The next biggest majority after Falkirk is Hannah Bardell’s Livingston seat, which will see the SNP defend a 13,435 vote majority.
Latest polling for the General Election put Labour on 36 per cent, the SNP on 34 per cent, the Tories on 17 per cent, and the Lib Dems on six per cent.
