SNP enjoy poll success on the back of spring conference

"We´ve got what it takes," was the slogan unveiled at the Scottish National Party´s spring conference last week as First Minister Alex Salmond promised to steer Scotland through the recession.

This new double-edged party slogan set the tone of the conference and the political objectives of the SNP: to present itself as the most cohesive and able party for governing Scotland and to counterbalance scepticism emanating from opposition benches that, under the current economic conditions, Scotland could not ‘go it alone’. These themes formed threads which ran through the speeches of both Mr Salmond and Deputy SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon.

Responding Scottish Labour leader Ian Gray’s March conference speech, Mr Salmond made clear his intentions to cut through the politics of insularity and opposition: “This will not be a speech of attack lines on the Labour Party or Mr Gray –because, we are the Scottish National Party not the anti-Labour Party”. “This speech will be about the economy, about recovery – about our plan to make sure Scotland is well placed to recover first and recover fastest,” Mr Salmond said.

The first minister’s words were accompanied by a number of funding announcements which amounted to a £95m package, which has been made available through European funding. This funding will create 8,000 jobs and provide training and skills for 75,000 people in Scotland, according to the first minister.

This announcement followed Nicola Sturgeon’s statement that funding for council-house building is to be doubled, from £25m to £50m. This, she said, would help secure over 3,000 jobs “at a time when the construction industry is under the most severe pressure".

Opposition leaders, however, voiced their scepticism at the SNP’s message. Ian Gray claimed that Salmond had failed to deliver on promises to provide assistance to apprentices affected by redundancy to finish their training. Mr Gray continued, in a familiar tack, saying: “Alex Salmond is the first minister of broken promises.”

Tavish Scott, leader of the Scottish Liberal Democrats, also voiced his criticism, directing his comments towards the SNP’s new campaign slogan. Mr Scott said, “People do not want to hear rhetoric, they want to see action.”

Despite these criticisms, the SNP have polled their best results in six months in a YouGov survey published last week.

Alex Salmond, in the “best first minister” rating polled 36 per cent, dwarfing Ian Gray, whose fortunes ebbed at a low of 7 per cent. Annabel Goldie, leader of the Scottish Conservatives, polled a distant second-place with 10 per cent.

The message of the SNP certainly appears to have resonance among the electorate with 53 per cent of respondents believing that the SNP “cares most about the Scottish economy”, followed by the Labour Party which languishes on 22 per cent.