Nicola Sturgeon still has higher approval ratings than Humza Yousaf, a new poll has found.
The survey from Ipsos Scotland comes as the First Minister prepares to celebrate his first year in office.
The pollsters found that while Mr Yousaf's approval ratings had improved slightly since last year, they were still lower than his predecessor, despite her arrest as part of the police probe into the SNP's finances.
READ MORE: Humza Yousaf branded 'weak leader' as rivals give verdicts
Approval ratings have fallen for the party compared to a year ago, down from a net favourability rating of -1 in March 2023 to -10 one year later.
While 34% of the public have a favourable opinion of the SNP, 44% are unfavourable.
The Tories and Rishi Sunak are much more unpopular, with a net rating of -48, down from -42 in March last year.
While Labour has a better overall net rating among the public than the SNP, more of the public are “neutral” towards Sir Keir Starmer’s party.
Scottish Labour’s net rating of -3 is broadly similar to a year ago when it was at -4.
When asked if Scotland was heading in the right or wrong direction, 52% said that generally speaking things in Scotland are heading in the wrong direction, while just over a fifth, 21%, feel they are heading in the right direction.
Another 20% said neither and 8% were unsure.
Mr Yousaf has a net negative rating of -15 from the Scottish public, with 29% holding a favourable view of him compared to 45% who have an unfavourable view of him.
That is slightly better than last year when his net rating was -20.
Ms Sturgeon still has a slightly higher net rating, sitting on -12, with 35% holding a favourable view of her compared to 47% who are unfavourable.
That is significantly down from March 2023, when she left office with an overall net positive rating of +8.
READ MORE: Yousaf 'providing the leadership Scotland needs' says Brown
Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar remains more popular, with a ‘net’ rating of -7.
More than half (56%) of those questioned said the Scottish Government has done a bad job when it comes to improving the state of NHS, while 49% believe ministers have done badly at improving living standards for those on low incomes.
A similar proportion (48%) think the Scottish Government has performed badly on education, with 47% saying it has done a bad job at managing the economy.
A total of 1,040 people across Scotland were interviewed for the research, which took place between March 15 and 26.
Emily Gray, Managing Director, Ipsos in Scotland, commented: "These findings show the Scottish public are less favourable towards the SNP now than they were when Humza Yousaf took office, with Mr Yousaf facing a challenge to convince the public his government is delivering on key policy areas such as the NHS, education and the economy.
"However the other parties also face challenges – the Conservatives and Rishi Sunak are much more unpopular, whilst views towards Labour are less negative but the results suggest they haven’t as yet generated much enthusiasm among the public."
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