The SNP has opened up an eleven-point gap over Labour in Scotland, the biggest Nationalist lead ever recorded over their rivals by a mainstream polling organisation.

The surge can only be explained by the performance of the Salmond government and the troubles of Wendy Alexander's Holyrood opposition.

In August YouGov asked the standard voting intention questions for a Sunday newspaper and found that Labour and the SNP were deadlocked at 32% each, around the level of the outcome of last May's election.

On exactly the same polling method, the latest YouGov poll shows that the Nationalists have stretched their lead to 11%. It showed 40% of voters would opt for the SNP at a Holyrood election against only 29% for Labour.

The poll last week was commissioned by the SNP, but the questions asked were standard within YouGov methods.

The SNP currently has one more seat than Labour, but according to the poll results the Nationalists could enjoy a 14-seat lead.

The poll came as First Minister Alex Salmond commemorated the start of Hanukkah, the Jewish Festival of Lights, yesterday by visiting a Jewish school and a synagogue.

Mr Salmond met pupils from Calderwood Lodge Primary in East Renfrewshire, Scotland's only Jewish school, where he had a brief Hebrew lesson. He then went to the Scottish Council of Jewish Communities and their synagogue in Giffnock.