Labour is still lagging well behind the SNP in the race for Holyrood, despite a poll showing two out of five Scots support the party’s plans to raise income tax by 1p.
While 42% of those surveyed backed the move, only 22% said they were planning on voting for Kezia Dugdale’s party in the constituency section of the ballot.
The research, by Survation for the Daily Record, also suggested the UK Independence Party could win its first seats at Holyrood.
Nicola Sturgeon’s SNP continues to be the most popular party, with more than half (53%) of voters set to back the nationalists in the constituency section.
Support for the Conservatives was at 16%, with 6% planning on voting for the Liberal Democrats, and 3% backing other parties.
The SNP also has a commanding lead in the regional list section of the vote, with the poll putting Ms Sturgeon’s party on 45%, with Labour on 18%, the Conservatives on 15%, the Greens on 9% and both the Liberal Democrats and Ukip on 6%.
A seat projection suggested that result would leave the SNP with 70 MSPs, giving the party a second majority term at Holyrood, while Labour could return 21 MSPs – down from the 37 it won in 2011.
The Conservatives are projected to have 16 MSPs, with the Greens on nine – which would be the party’s best Holyrood result. Ukip could return seven MSPs, while the Liberal Democrats, currently the fourth party at Holyrood, would slip to sixth with six MSPs.
Survation surveyed 1,006 people in Scotland between February 11 and 16.