Labour leader Kezia Dugdale has admitted she faces an uphill struggle to win over voters after a poll suggested her party’s brand was now ‘toxic’ in Scotland.
A BMG Research survey for the Herald found that support for the party’s key election pledge fell when it was described as a Scottish Labour policy.
Ms Dugdale said that she was encouraged that voters liked the proposal, for an extra 1p on income tax to protect services like education.
Read more: Labour brand now toxic in Scotland, poll reveals
But, she added: “There's obviously still work to do in terms of translating that into Labour votes”.
She said that when she took over the job of Scottish Labour leader last year "I was really aware of the size of the challenge.
"I've always said I had a long-term job to renew the party."
She added: "It's really encouraging to see the poll evidence that people like that idea - there's obviously still work to do in terms of translating that into Labour votes but I take some encouragement from that.
"It's also popular with SNP voters."
The poll also found that nearly one in five voters were still undecided with less than three weeks to go until polling day.
Overall, support for the 1p policy dropped by more than eight percentage points when Scottish Labour was mentioned.
The biggest falls were among SNP and Conservative supporters, although there was a rise among Labour voters.
However, support among undecided voters dropped by around five percentage points when Labour’s name was attached to the policy.
The Scottish Conservatives said that Labour had "lost its way".
Read more: Labour has long been more toxic than its policies
Leader Ruth Davidson said: “I think Labour have lost their way a bit. I think they’ll be back in Scotland. But what we are hearing on the doors all over Scotland is, because they are in a bit of a mess, because they have had so many leader, they are just not up to the job of holding the SNP to account."
Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Willie Rennie welcomed the support for the 1p rise, which his party also proposes.
He said: "We will expand free nursery care, invest in a pupil premium for disadvantaged children and restore college funding. That is how you reduce the attainment gap and give businesses the skills they need.
Read more: PFI branded Labour's 'toxic legacy'
“Leading think-tanks have said the plan is progressive. Almost half of the £500 million it would raise comes from the 12 per cent highest earners. You'd have to be earning over £21,500 to pay any more next year than you do today."
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