LABOUR are “within touching distance” of winning 30 seats in Scotland, according to the latest polling.

Pollsters Savanta have found that support for Labour in Scotland now stands at 37 per cent, compared with 33 per cent for the SNP and 17 per cent for the Tories.

The survey conducted on behalf of the Scotsman newspaper appears to echo the results of last month’s study by centrist think tank More In Common, which put Labour and SNP on 35 and 30 per cent respectively — and if replicated at the polls on July 4 could mark a dramatic turnaround in Scottish Labour’s fortunes.

The party was almost wiped out north of the border in 2015, losing 40 of their 41 seats while the SNP soared to 56 out of 59 contested.

A brief resurgence to seven in 2017 fell back to one in 2019, a total doubled with victory in last year’s Rutherglen and Hamilton West by-election.

But according to Savanta’s Chris Hopkins, Labour could be set to return 28 MP out of a possible 57, while SNP could plunge from 48 to 18 after a year widely regarded as their most difficult since devolution.

Mr Hopkins said that First Minister John Swinney returning to the SNP leadership had managed to “stem SNP’s bleeding.” 

He added: “In a sense this is positive news for the SNP, but is also a likely consequence of him simply not being Humza Yousaf.”

“There’s plenty of campaign yet to go, but we shouldn’t lose sight of the bigger picture — Labour held one Scottish MP after the last general election, and our poll suggests they could be within touching distance of 30.

“Starmer’s focus on Scotland looks like it may well be paying off, even if this stalemate holds until election day.”