NICOLA Sturgeon has said she would seek “a progressive alliance” at Westminster if the General Election hands her the opportunity to lock Theresa May out of Downing Street.

A raft of new polls has put Labour within touching distance of the Tories, following a surprise surge in support for Jeremy Corbyn’s party.

The Labour leader has already ruled out an alliance with the SNP, amid Tory warnings he would lead a “coalition of chaos” if Mrs May cannot secure a majority on June 8.

But Ms Sturgeon’s “progressive” pitch echoes her landslide-winning campaign in 2015, which handed her all but three Scottish seats but proved to be electoral poison for Labour – with billboards of Mr Corbyn’s predecessor Ed Miliband in Alex Salmond’s pocket sending English voters scurrying.

A Survation poll released shortly after the 2015 election revealed the prospect of a Labour-SNP pact was one of the key reasons for Labour’s defeat last time round.

But the renewed prospect of a coalition could be a vote-winner for the SNP in Scotland, with a more recent poll revealing one in three Scottish Labour voters favours a deal with the SNP if it keeps the Conservatives out of power at Westminster.

In an interview with the BBC’s Andrew Neil, Ms Sturgeon said: “If there was to be a hung parliament of course we would look to be part of a progressive alliance that pursued progressive policies.

“But let’s get back to the reality of this election. The reality of this election, even with a narrowing of the polls, is that we’re going to face a Tory government perhaps with a bigger majority.

“So my priority in this election is to say to people in Scotland if you want Scotland’s interest to be protected and our voice heard, then you’ve got to vote SNP to make sure that’s the case.

“Voting Tory deliveries Tory MPs who’ll rubber stamp Theresa May and voting Labour in Scotland risks letting the Tories in.”

When asked directly if she would prefer Mrs May or Mr Corbyn in Downing Street, the First Minister said: “I don’t want a Tory prime minister. I don’t want to see a Tory government.”

But during a visit to Glasgow last night, Mr Corbyn again rejected forming a coalition with the SNP.

He said: “We are not forming coalitions. We are not joining a progressive alliance. What we are doing is fighting to win this election on the policies we have put forward, on the manifesto we have put forward, which we believe will transform the lives of millions of people all across Britain.”

In the run-up to the 2015 general election the Tories sought to raise fears in England about the impact a possible coalition between Labour and the Nationalists could have.

Conservative Party chairman Patrick McLoughlin said a deal between the SNP and Labour “would mean Jeremy Corbyn propped up by a weak and unstable coalition just days before the Brexit negotiations start – putting at risk the deal we need to get”.

He added: “Corbyn and the rest would put up taxes, weaken our defences and increase immigration. And we know he would give in to Sturgeon’s demand for another independence referendum, because he’s absolutely fine with that. In the days of shock election results Jeremy Corbyn could become PM – and the polls are tightening.”

A clutch of new polls released on Sunday saw the Conservative lead over Labour shrinking throughout the UK, including one which put the Tories just six points clear.

Meanwhile, a shock survey of Scottish voters suggests the SNP’s ranks at Westminster could be more than halved. Support for the SNP has fallen to 39 per cent meaning they could be heading for victory in just 24 seats – down from 56 in 2015, the analysis by SurveyMonkey suggests.

While the SNP would remain the biggest Scottish party, the Tories would be the biggest beneficiaries of the SNP retreat with 17 seats. But Labour is gaining ground and could score a dozen seats, the analysis suggests. Ms Sturgeon insists she