The SNP have leapfrogged Labour in the latest poll produced by Lord Ashcroft, and are now nine points ahead of Mr Murphy’s party.

The Tory peer’s analysis of key Scottish seats suggests the SNP could come out on top with their candidate Kirsten Oswald replacing the Labour man who has been MP since 1997.

The findings were published on Friday when the Labour Party released its manifesto.

Poll results show Mr Murphy trailing the SNP by nine points, a significant shift from its February findings which had Labour ahead by a narrow one point. However Kirsten Oswald, has played down the poll, saying she “takes nothing for granted.” Even so, Mr Murphy is still targeting victory and he highlighted previous examples where he had beaten the odds to succeed.

He said: “I’ve always been the outsider. The Tories were the favourites in previous elections and now this poll makes the SNP favourites.

“But I have a great campaign team and I’m confident of winning.” Mr Murphy opened his campaign office in Barrhead on Saturday and took his soap box to Buchanan Street and Byres Road where he continued to deliver his party’s key pledges.

Writing in last week’s News, he repeated his argument that the best way to end austerity is to ensure the Tories do not retain power.

He said: “Labour will end Tory austerity. I have held weekly advice surgeries in Barrhead most weeks for eighteen years as the local MP.

“The past couple of years have been the hardest in all of that time as more and more people have come to see me in search of help. There are too many people in Barrhead who I meet who are working hard and feel no better off.

“While the Conservatives want even deeper cuts to public services and more austerity Labour have a better plan. It’s a fairer approach to tackling the deficit.

“We will ask those who are better off to contribute a little more through the mansion tax on homes worth more than £2 million, the bankers’ bonus tax and a 50p tax rate on those earning over £150,000 a year. We will freeze energy prices, increase the National Minimum Wage to at least £8 an hour and end those exploitative zero hours contracts to make work pay for working class families.

“After this election there will either be a Labour government or a Tory government. Five more years of Tory austerity or a fairer way forward with Labour’s alternative approach. A vote for Labour here in East Renfrewshire will help stop David Cameron being re-elected and continuing with his crushing austerity. No other party can defeat the Tories.” However Mr Murphy’s rival candidates have seized upon the results as a clear sign that Mr Murphy’s days as East Renfrewshire MP are numbered.

His main rival, Kirsten Oswald, played down the poll results and said she would not rest on her laurels.

She said: “It’s encouraging to read that there is positive polling news in East Renfrewshire for the SNP, but we are taking absolutely nothing for granted. The local SNP team of volunteers has been working incredibly hard, and we will continue to do that.

“Scotland needs and wants an alternative to the current Westminster agenda. That is why we need the real clout for Scotland that only a strong team of SNP MPs can deliver — to be a real force for change.

“I would be absolutely honoured to be part of that change, and if East Renfrewshire residents choose me to be their next MP, I will work tirelessly for every single person in the constituency”.

Graeme Cowie, the Liberal Democrat candidate, says it is clear that there is a large number of voters who are not happy with Labour, but has urged them to consider an alternative to the SNP.

He said: “It is clear from Lord Ashcroft’s poll that a large proportion of the electorate are not satisfied with the way they have been represented by Labour’s Jim Murphy. The challenge for the Liberal Democrats is to show why the SNP are no better substitute.

“On the doorstep there is still a sizeable section of the electorate who greet the prospect of the SNP as their representatives with anything but enthusiasm. We need an MP that is prepared to unite these divided groups and represent the constituency and the country as a whole.

“The Liberal Democrats will be fighting hard for every vote and speaking to constituents to make sure the campaign is fought on the issues they care most about.

“I would urge all voters in East Renfrewshire to come along to the various hustings in the next fortnight where I will be making the case for the liberal alternative.” Currently the Liberal Democrats poll at just three per cent of the vote in East Ren, with the Conservatives dropping one percent to 25 per cent in East Renfrewshire, six per cent behind Labour and 15 per cent behind the SNP. However, the Conservatives hope they can close the gap before May 7.

Dr David Montgomery, the conservative candidate for East Renfrewshire told The News: “The poll from Lord Ashcroft shows only one thing for sure: Labour are in turmoil. The people of East Renfrewshire have had enough of Labour and this poll makes that clear.

“There is only one choice on May 7 if you want to see the country continue on the road to recovery, and that is to vote Conservative.

“A vote for Labour or the SNP will only increase the chances of a coalition of chaos, with a weak Ed Milliband being subject to the demands of the new nationalist cohort at Westminster.

“A Conservative government will never do a deal with the SNP and voters will remember this as they go to the polls.” In neighbouring Paisley and Renfrewshire South, Mr Murphy’s Labour colleague Douglas Alexander faces a similarly bleak outlook, as Lord Ashcroft’s poll has him trailing the SNP’s Mhairi Black by 11 per cent.