A small mystery

We don't get Scottish opinion polls very often, so we must enjoy them when they appear. The Scotsman reports:

"LABOUR'S ambition of retaining power at Holyrood suffered a severe setback last night after the Scottish National Party took the lead in an opinion poll for the first time since the 2003 elections.
A survey of voting intentions by the Ipsos MORI organisation revealed a massive swing to the SNP in both the constituency and list sections of the Holyrood voting system. In just three months, Labour has slipped from a 14-point lead over the SNP to being two points behind them. Just 28 per cent of voters said they would back Labour in a Holyrood election compared with 30 per cent who opted for the SNP.
In the second, list vote, Labour's support is now 26 per cent, down from 33 per cent, while the SNP commands the support of 28 per cent of voters, up from 23 per cent, giving them a two-point lead.
The poll, which surveys voters across Scotland every three months, found a similar pattern for Westminster voting intentions. Labour dropped from 44 per cent in the January to March period to 36 per cent in the April to June survey. "

The disparity between voting intentions for Holyrood and those for Westminster is intriguing. Labour's support is at 28% for Holyrood and 36% for Westminster. Who are these 8% of voters who will support a Blair/Brown administration at Westminster but will turn away from a McConnell administration at Holyrood? And why is the Labour administration at Holyrood less popular than that at Westminster? If this poll is correct, Mr McConnell will find it difficult to blame UK Labour for his electoral difficulties.

That apart, Labour would appear to be in deep doodoo for next May.