Nearly three-fifths of voters would be “dismayed” by a Labour/SNP deal, poll finds

59% of voters have said that they would be “dismayed” by a Labour/SNP deal, a YouGov poll for The Times has found.

Although Labour and the SNP have both ruled out a formal coalition, it would not be beyond doubt that the SNP could support a minority Labour government on crucial votes (if Labour were to be the largest party and the SNP were to gain the huge amounts of seats in Scotland that polls suggest they will). However, this poll suggests that’s not what the public want.

It seems, though, that the public aren’t too keen on any of the potential options on offer. 54% said that would be “dismayed” by a Lab/Lib coalition, 52% don’t want a repeat of the past five years in the form of a Tory/Lib coalition.

Meanwhile, in the unlikely event that either of the two biggest parties wins an outright majority, a sizeable proportion of the electorate will still be left unhappy. 49% said they dreaded a Labour majority, while 41% said they were rooting for this. The numbers weren’t all that different for the Tories, 45% were dead set against them winning a majority and 46% were throwing their weight behind this option.

On the other side of the coin, far fewer were positive about what was on offer. 1/4 said they either would be “delighted” or wouldn’t mind a Labour/SNP deal, 1/3 said the same for a Lab/Lib coalition and 37% were positive about a Tory/Lib deal.

This poll question 8,271 voters, 633 of whom were in Scotland. They found that half of former Lib Dem voters and 44% Labour look like they’re switching to the SNP, while the same is true for 1/5 of former Conservatives.

69% of Scottish voters think Labour has “seriously lost touch with ordinary working people” and 3 out of 4 said Labour need to change it’s policies if it’s going to be in government again. And, in a damning blow to Labour who have worked to reverse the suggestions that they’re not fit to run the economy, over a half think they haven’t recognised “the damage it [the Labour party] wrought on the economy”.

In the same vein, 45% of people feel left behind by the party, thinking that it no longer cares about people like them.