JIM MURPHY vowed yesterday to end Scottish Labour’s “terrible habit” of losing elections if he was elected leader, but a new poll showed he would lose his own Westminster seat.

Scottish Labour would lose all but four of its 40 Westminster seats if the general election was held tomorrow, according to an Ipsos-Mori poll for Scottish broadcaster STV.

And the predicted election wipeout in Scotland would see Labour lose Mr Murphy’s East Renfrewshire along with dozens more to the SNP.

Nicola Sturgeon’s party boasted support of 52 per cent in the poll compared with Labour’s 23 per cent — a total turnaround from the 2010 general election when Labour took 42 per cent of votes to the SNP’s 19 per cent.  

The voters’ verdict was revealed after Mr Murphy told BBC Radio 4 that Labour could pick up more seats at May’s general election and win the 2016 Scottish Parliament poll.

He dismissed his Blairite label, saying: “I don’t care if you’re leftwing or rightwing, or new Labour or old Labour — it’s losing Labour that want to get rid of.

“The Scottish Labour Party has got itself into a terrible recent habit of losing elections.

“I want to end that period of losing Labour here in Scotland, starting with the UK general election in 2015.”

Ms Sturgeon put the poll result down to a growing disillusionment with the “Westminster establishment.

“London Labour’s treatment of its party in Scotland as nothing more than a ‘branch office’ has left them in meltdown,” she said.

[email protected]