But news marred by row over Salmond�s speech at parliament opening

ALEX Salmond is still enjoying a honeymoon period as first minister after a new opinion poll showed the SNP had increased its lead over Labour since their victory at May's Holyrood election.

The YouGov snapshot, the first survey to be taken since May's poll, puts the Nationalists 7% ahead of Labour on the constituency vote and five points in front on regional preferences.

The poll is thought to be significant as it was taken last week around the time Gordon Brown was being formally installed as prime pinister, and suggests his promotion is not having an effect in his home country.

YouGov found support for the SNP on the constituency vote to be on 38%, up five points from last month's election. Scottish Labour polled 31% of first-past-the-post preferences, one point down on the Holyrood election.

The Conservatives were down three points to 14%, while the Liberal Democrats dropped four points to 12%.

Elsewhere, the official opening of the Scottish parliament by the Queen yesterday was marred by a party political spat over Alex Salmond's pro-independence speech, in which he talked of how the SNP wanted to have a "national conversation" on a separate Scotland.

His remarks infuriated Labour's health spokesman Andy Kerr, who said Salmond's "inappropriate" speech was handled "very badly".

The big day also witnessed a spat between police and student nationalists outside the parliament, who were told to take down their anti-Union banner.

Following the Queen's address, Salmond told the parliament: "I believe in the restoration of an independent Scotland. Others in this chamber take a different view. I welcome that debate and the national conversation to follow. The challenge for all of us is to have that conversation with dignity, with respect and with substance."

However, Kerr said: "He handled it very badly and I refused to clap. If you were to examine previous speeches by first ministers, nobody has made a speech like that. The whole tone was inappropriate."

His complaints were backed up by other Labour politicians, though they refused to air their grievances publicly.

However, sources close to LibDem leader Nicol Stephen and Tory leader Annabel Goldie declined to back Kerr. One said: "I think Andy has jumped off the deep end with this one."

As well as seeing a gain on the constituency vote, the YouGov poll, which was commissioned by the SNP, also found support for the Nationalists rising on the list vote.

The SNP polled 33%, up two points since the election. Labour, in a sign their support is flatlining rather than falling, were down one point to 28%.

The regional vote also confirmed that the SNP-Labour rivalry is squeezing the other parties at Holyrood. The LibDems polled 10%, down one point, while the Conservatives remained unchanged on 14%. A category of "others" polled 16% of the vote on the regional list. Within this, the Greens polled 7%, the SSP 5% and Tommy Sheridan's Solidarity 1%.

One Labour insider said he was not concerned about the poll as new governments tend to get a boost in support following an election win. However, several MSPs agreed the poll was further bad news for the LibDems, who had already lost ground last month.

An SNP spokesperson said: "SNP support has moved forward strongly since the election, underlining the surge of goodwill towards the new government."

A spokesman for the LibDems said: "All new administrations enjoy some sort of honeymoon period. There will be lots of issues which will arise over the years which will shape how people think about the current government."

And a Labour spokesperson said: "This is laughably inconsistent with other polls."

Yesterday morning, the Queen was met at Holyrood by George Grubb, lord provost of Edinburgh, and introduced to parliament's presiding officer, Alex Fergusson.

The first minister had previously arrived with his wife, Moira. The SNP leader was followed by a group of VIPs, which included party backers such as Sir Sean Connery, Kwik-Fit founder Sir Tom Farmer and Stagecoach tycoon Brian Souter.

Addressing MSPs and other guests in the parliament's main chamber for the first time since the SNP took power in Scotland, the Queen said: "As you move into your third parliamentary session and a new form of politics, I'm confident that the Scottish people will be at the heart of the business of this session as you keep on walking with them and together build a better and more sustainable future for this great land."

A free concert in the Holyrood grounds and a National Theatre of Scotland performance of Black Watch, attended by Salmond, rounded off the day's celebrations.