Only a third of voters think Labour will still be a force in Scottish politics in a decade, according to a poll.
Scottish Labour is licking its wounds after a humiliating election performance last week saw them relegated to third by the resurgent Conservatives.
A fresh round of soul-searching is underway within the party in a bid to reconnect with voters after a turbulent two years, which also saw them reduced to one MP in Scotland in last year’s General Election.
But more than a third (36%) of Scots believe the party is finished in Scotland and will not recover in the next decade, according to a YouGov poll for The Times.
Some 34% say it will remain a force in Scotland and will still be a serious player in the country’s political landscape in 10 years.
Questioned by pollsters on the eve of the May 5 ballot, voters found Labour to have conducted the most negative campaign of the main three parties, with a minus 16 rating.
The SNP were on plus 22 and the Scottish Conservatives on minus 13.
When asked about the honesty or dishonesty of the parties’ bid for votes, Labour scored minus two, the Tories minus seven and the SNP plus 12.
The poll also revealed a split between whether Kezia Dugdale should remain as Scottish Labour leader, with 33% saying she should stay compared with 32% believing she should stand down.
A Scottish Labour spokesman said they ran an honest campaign in which they told the public that the better off in society must pay more tax to stop the cuts to schools and the NHS.
He added: “As the largest centre-left party in Holyrood, we will continue to make the case for using the powers of the Scottish Parliament to stop the cuts and invest in the future of our economy.”
Asked if Labour was now a spent force north of the border, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said she would “never” make such a claim about another political party.
But she added: “It is difficult to see what the road back is for Labour but thankfully that’s not my job to envisage the way road back for Labour.
“We are and continue to be a left of centre, social democratic political party and many of those who used to look to Labour now feel at home in the SNP and I am delighted about that.”
Thursday’s election saw the SNP lose its majority but still emerge as clear winners with 63 seats.
The Conservatives took 31 seats, while Labour’s haul was cut by a third on its 2011 performance to 24.
