First Minister Nicola Sturgeon scored a narrow victory in last night’s election debate showdown, according to a Press and Journal poll.
More than 2,600 people voted in the online survey, with the SNP leader pipping Ukip’s Nigel Farage to the top spot by 26% to 25%.
Prime Minister David Cameron was not far behind in third, with 24%, while his rival for the keys to 10 Downing Street, Labour’s Ed Miliband, secured 17%
Trailing the others were Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg on 4%, Natalie Bennett from the Greens on 3%, and Leanne Wood from Plaid Cymru on 1%.
The P&J poll found a similar result to a snap survey taken by YouGov immediately after the debate, which put Ms Sturgeon on 28% and Mr Farage in second on 20%.
However, a ComRes poll made it a dead heat between Mr Cameron, Mr Miliband, Mr Farage and Ms Sturgeon.
Ms Sturgeon was hailed by her supporters as the winner of last night’s leaders’ debate when she arrived at an SNP campaign hub today.
The first minister was met by dozens of cheering SNP activists at the Corstorphine hub in Edinburgh.
“I really enjoyed putting forward the case for a strong Scottish voice at Westminster and the case for more progressive politics at Westminster,” she said.
“I am really glad we had the opportunity to demonstrate Westminster is not just an old boys’ network. There is a progressive alternative to the big mainstream parties and I hope that message got across.”