POLLS showing Scottish Labour is likely to lose seats at the next Holyrood election are a “disaster” for the party, a former Labour MSP warns — but one that may be beyond its power to fix.

A poll carried out for The Herald by Find Out Now suggested pro-independence parties would hold a majority — the Scottish National Party (SNP) winning 51 seats (a loss of 13 on current numbers) according to analysis by Sir John Curtice, the Scottish Greens 15 (an increase of eight) and Alba eight (up seven), making 74 of the 129 available.

To form a governing coalition this would require a patch-up of the ruptured SNP-Green alliance, which broke up over divisions on climate and social policy, including over responses to the Cass Review into treatment of children with gender dysphoria.