Why Keir Starmer chose Scotland for one of his first campaign visits

A clear reason Sir Keir visited the country is that, according to the polls, Scottish Labour could be about to launch a counter-revolution against the SNP.

The popularity of Anas Sarwar, Scottish Labour leader, has helped his party. His net popularity rating is -13, compared to Scottish Tory leader Douglas Ross on -34.

Since February, Labour has been the most popular party in the country, overtaking the SNP in the polls for the first time in a decade as it attracts independence-supporting voters once lost to the nationalists.

A significant 43 per cent believe Labour is ready for government, compared to 36 per cent against, according to polling from Ipsos Mori.

Polling by Savanta earlier this month found that the SNP is on course to lose 25 MPs in the general election, leaving it with 18. Scottish Labour, meanwhile, would go from having two to 28 MPs, according to the survey.

This would mark a reversal of Labour’s devastating performance in 2019, where it secured just one seat. In 1997, it held 56.

Labour is projected to win up to 28 seats at the election, according to YouGov’s latest multi-constituency MRP polling analysis, which provides seat-by-seat projections for the election. This would be just short of a majority of the country’s 57 seats.

Since the 2014 referendum, the 45 per cent who voted Yes had in the main backed the SNP, while the 55 per cent who voted No split their support between the three Unionist parties. The SNP has therefore done incredibly well under the first-past-the-post electoral system

However, the relationship between a voter’s stance on independence and how they cast their ballots has now weakened, as there is no prospect of another referendum on the horizon. Nicola Sturgeon’s departure has also helped Labour.