New polling from Ipsos MORI, conducted for Channel 4, shows Kate Forbes is the most popular candidate for First Minister with the general public in Scotland. When Scottish voters were asked “who would make the best First Minister?”, Kate Forbes was the top choice of 32% of voters, with Yousaf on 24% and Ash Regan sat on 8% – losing out to “don’t know” on 11%. In bad news for Humza, he had the same level of support as “none of them”.
Amongst SNP voters, Yousaf does do slightly better. His share rose to 33% – effectively tied with Forbes on 32%. Of course, the SNP leadership election is decided by the membership, not voters, so Yousaf won’t be too concerned. Especially when membership polling put him top by 6% on first preferences. With 32% of members undecided and second preferences to account for, it’s all to play for…