Reform UK has opened up a clear lead over Scottish Labour for second place ahead of May’s Holyrood election, a new poll suggests.
Nigel Farage’s party – led north of the border by former Tory peer Malcolm Offord – has a five-point lead over Labour in the YouGov poll published on Thursday.
The polling body spoke to 1,113 people in Scotland between January 8 and 14.
Reform boasted 20% support in both the constituency and regional vote, compared to 15% for Labour.
The SNP remained well in front of the pack in the poll, on 34% and 29% respectively.
YouGov's first voting intention poll for the 2026 Scottish Parliament election shows clear leads for the SNP, with Reform UK now in second place
— YouGov (@YouGov) January 29, 2026
Constituency vote
SNP: 34% (-14 from 2021 election)
Ref: 20% (New)
Lab: 15% (-7)
Con: 10% (-12)
LD: 10% (+3)
Grn: 9% (+8) pic.twitter.com/hh9RysQt4E
But that represents a substantial drop from the 48% and 40% support it enjoyed in the last Holyrood election in 2021.
Elsewhere, the Conservatives sunk to 10% support in constituencies and 11% in the regional list, according to Thursday’s poll.
The Scottish Greens jumped to 12% on the list – overtaking the Tories into fourth place – and 9% in constituencies.
Liberal Democrat support sat at 9% and 10% respectively.
The pollster also looked at movements between parties since the 2024 general election, finding 21% of respondents who backed Labour have become undecided, with 14% saying they will back Reform UK and 13% now supporting the SNP.
The Tories have retained 48% of their support, according to the poll, with 27% going to Reform UK and 17% into the undecided column.
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