Over half of Scottish voters will vote SNP in May and nearly two thirds will vote to remain in the European Union, a poll suggests.
Labour has the support of a fifth of voters in both constituency and regional Holyrood voting intentions – just four points ahead of the Conservatives (16%), the Survation poll for the Daily Record indicates.
The Scottish Greens, which does not field constituency candidates, could pick up nearly a tenth (9%) of votes on the regional list and push the Liberal Democrats down into fifth place.
The Lib Dems remain unpopular in Scotland at around 8% following their post-Tory coalition wipeout in 2011, just three points ahead of Ukip (5%) on the regional list.
Support for the pro-independence Greens comes at the expense of the SNP – which drops from 52% in the constituency vote to 42% on the regional list – suggesting Scottish nationalism remains a driving factor behind voting intentions.
The 65% support for remaining in the EU could reignite nationalist fervour, with other UK-wide polls suggesting the rest of the UK remains split on EU membership and the SNP threatening to revisit the independence question if the UK leaves against Scotland’s wishes.
Scots largely approve of the SNP’s record in government with around half satisfied with their record on justice, education, health and transport against around a fifth to a quarter who are dissatisfied.
The latest poll would see the SNP rise to 70 seats, up from 69 in 2011, Labour drop from 37 to 26, the Tories gain three seats to 18, the Lib Dems rise from five to seven and the Greens rise from two to eight, according to Weber Shandwick’s Scotland Votes tool.
SNP business manager Derek Mackay said: “This is another very encouraging poll for the SNP – but we never take the support of people in Scotland for granted.
“While Labour and the Tories become increasingly divided and inward-looking, the SNP are determined to build on our strong record in government and to keep Scotland moving with fresh thinking and new ideas.”
A Scottish Labour spokesman said: “We are in no doubt about the scale of the challenge facing us in this election but the choice voters face is becoming clearer than ever.
“Only Scottish Labour would use the new powers to bring an end to failed Tory austerity and give everybody a fair chance in life, no matter their background.
“Despite all their talk, the SNP are content to just manage Tory austerity, passing on massive cuts to local school budgets.”
A Conservative spokesman said: “The Scottish Conservatives want to provide a real Scottish alternative to the SNP at these elections – holding the Scottish Government to account, backing our place in the UK and protecting family pay packets.
“This poll demonstrates that Scotland is in need of a strong opposition to take on the SNP and we intend to provide it.”
Green co-convener Patrick Harvie said: “With our booming membership and first-rate candidates already active in communities the length and breadth of Scotland, we’re relishing the prospect of turning these numbers into more Green MSPs.”
* Survation polled 1,029 Scots aged over 16 between January 8 and 12.