Voters think Ruth Davidson would make a better leader of the opposition at Holyrood than Labour's Kezia Dugdale, according to a new poll.
YouGov research for the Times newspaper put the Scottish Conservative leader head to head with Ms Dugdale and found that 32% felt she would be better at holding the SNP Government to account, compared with 13% for her Labour counterpart.
Similarly, 32% said Ms Davidson was the more competent of the two, compared with 12% for Ms Dugdale.
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Voters also felt the Tory leader was marginally more trustworthy at 16%, compared with the 13% who opted for the Labour leader, but 26% said Ms Dugdale was more in touch with "ordinary people" compared with 13% who thought Ms Davidson was.
According to the Times, 44% of those who plan to back Labour in May think Ms Dugdale would be the better opposition leader, compared with 74% support for Ms Davidson among Tory voters.
Read more: Ruth Davidson says the Tories will become the second party in Scotland
The poll found that the Conservative vote has fallen back from recent YouGov results however, with the Tories dropping a point on the constituency vote since last month, slipping to 18%.
Labour has gained two to rise to 21% while the Scottish Nationalists have gained a point to sit at 50%.
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On the list vote, the Tories are also down one and Labour up two, putting them at 18% and 19% respectively. The SNP is up two to 45%.
Polling expert Professor John Curtice said the findings would translate to 70 seats for the SNP, 24 for Labour, 23 for the Tories, eight for the Greens and four for the Liberal Democrats.
YouGov polled 1,012 Scots between April 7 and 11.
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