When the Scottish Labour faithful gathered in Edinburgh earlier this month the optimism was palpable. For the first time since 2016 Labour were beating the Tories in Scotland again, having outpolled them in last years local elections. The mantle of principle challenger to the SNP had been reclaimed. On top of that, Nicola Sturgeon had announced her resignation and the party can hope to utilise this to make further progress.
But just how much of a threat to the SNP is Scottish Labour really? Let’s take a deep dive into some of the polling data, and ignore such raw and intangible things as hopes and anecdotal stories.