It is the start of a significant year in Scottish politics, with voters likely to go to the polls in the first UK general election since 2019.
While polling currently puts the Labour Party ahead of the Conservatives UK-wide by a significant margin, in Scotland, the SNP’s decade-long lead among voters is coming under threat.
The party is also facing internal struggles over its path to securing independence, with polling suggesting the public is still split in its support for Scotland leaving the UK.
As we enter 2024, Ferret Fact Service has examined the state of the parties and polling ahead of a potentially seismic 12 months for Scotland.
There is much work to do for the Tories to remain in power after the next election, the date of which has yet to be revealed.
Rishi Sunak has confirmed that the election will take place at some point this year.
A series of scandals which led to the resignation of Boris Johnson have impacted their polling, and Rishi Sunak has so far been unable to arrest the decline in support for the party among the public.
In UK-wide polling, Labour has a significant lead over the Tories, which has seen its popularity decline since April 2020. Labour has led in Westminster election polling for about two years, and the last ten polls give them an average poll lead of 17 percentage points.
The prospect of a second Scottish independence referendum still looms large in Scottish politics.
Attempts by the Scottish Government to secure a second referendum in recent years have been rebuffed by the UK, and there is internal disagreement within the independence movement and the SNP about how best to progress the issue.
Yousaf has set out a new strategy on independence, which was backed by a majority of party members at the SNP conference in October. It proposes fighting the next general election on an independence platform and, if the party gets the most seats in Scotland, beginning negotiations with the UK Government about independence.