The Scottish Tories are headed for disaster in their north-east stronghold, including leader Douglas Ross’s Moray seat, according to a major new poll.
The Savanta ComRes research found the Conservatives face electoral annihilation all over Scotland and may lose nearly 300 seats at Westminster.
The Moray seat held by Mr Ross would swing to the SNP, while Aberdeenshire MPs Andrew Bowie and David Duguid also face a Commons exit alongside Scottish Secretary Alister Jack.
It was forecasted the Tory collapse across Britain would be so profound even Prime Minister Rishi Sunak could lose his seat.
The findings are a major boost to Nicola Sturgeon’s party after her hopes of holding an independence vote in 2023 were dashed by the Supreme Court ruling last month.
Ms Sturgeon now wants to turn the next UK election – to be held no later than 2025 – into a single issue ballot on breaking up the union.
An Ipsos Mori poll last week found support for independence at 56% among those who were confident about how they would vote.
The new Savanta ComRes data placed the SNP on 55 seats, an improvement on their most recent showing with the same polling firm in September.
In September, polling guru Professor Sir John Curtice predicted the nationalists were most likely to gain from a Conservative collapse.
How do Labour fare?
In a blow to Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar, his party would win only two more seats north of the border despite Sir Keir Starmer romping to a Westminster majority with 48% of the vote and a record share of seats.
The poll showed Labour taking both constituencies held by Alex Salmond’s Alba Party, including Gordon Brown’s old seat in Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath.
That’s despite the previous survey from Savanta ComRes in September indicating Labour had a strong chance of winning up to 10 Scottish seats.
Ex-Prime Minister Mr Brown launched a new package aimed at enhancing devolution in a charm offensive to win over SNP voters last week.
His announcement came shortly after data had been collected from the 6,237 respondents for the poll, meaning it’s yet to be seen if Labour’s new policies have impressed Scottish voters.
Mr Starmer’s party wants to implement their proposed reforms even if they perform poorly in Scotland but get elected at Westminster.
The Tories have been slumping in the polls for the past year in the wake of Boris Johnson’s lockdown parties and anger over the cost-of-living crisis.
While previous Savanta ComRes findings found they were headed for disaster in Scotland, MP John Lamont was still expected to cling onto his Borders seat.
Lib Dem veteran Alistair Carmichael is expected to hang onto his Orkney and Shetland seat, the only stronghold his party have consistently stopped the SNP from taking.