THE SNP are on course to win an outright majority at the Holyrood election while Alex Salmond's Alba Party would fail to gain a single seat, a new poll has found.
The Opinium poll for Sky News found the SNP is up seven points in the constituency vote since the last survey, with 53 per cent of the vote share.
In the regional vote, the SNP are on 44% (+2), while Mr Salmond’s Alba Party is polling at just 2%.
The former first minister remains remains deeply unpopular with voters, with a net favourability rating of -60.
Just 11% think Mr Salmond mainly has Scotland’s best interests at heart, while 65% think he has his own.
Opinium's poll found the Conservatives on 21% of the constituency vote share, down three percentage points, while Labour are on 18%, down two.
In the regional vote, the Tories are on 22% (no change), and Labour are on 17% (-2).
Using a uniform swing calculator, a crude method to predict the number of seats using the percentage share of the vote, this would see the SNP winning 71 seats, the Tories 27, Labour 21, the Greens six, and the Lib Dems four.
The Alba Party would be unlikely to gain a single seat.
In the Scottish Parliament, 65 seats are needed for a majority.
Chris Curtis, senior research manager at Opinium, said: “If Scottish unionists had been hoping that the fallout between Salmond and Sturgeon would hurt the SNP, then our latest polling is going to be a disappointment.
"It looks like being on the campaign trail has further boosted the First Minister’s ratings, while the unpopularity of Alex Salmond has meant he is struggling to make a dent.
"Perhaps the most disappointing results in the poll are for the Labour party.
"Their new leader’s surging popularity is currently failing to translate into any more votes, as Labour ends up in the unenviable position of being everyone’s second choice."
Nicola Sturgeon maintains her popularity with a net approval rating of +23, while Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar has also seen a significant boost to his personal ratings, from a score of -3 to +10.
On the other hand, Scottish Conservative leader Douglas Ross has a net of -31.
When asked about the possibility of a coalition between the SNP and the Alba Party, only 15% think this would be good for Scotland, while 63% think it would be bad.
Meanwhile 41% think a coalition between the SNP and the Greens would be good, although 41% also think it would be bad.
Opinium interviewed 1,023 Scottish adults online between April 1 and 6.
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