Scottish Tory leader Russell Findlay has refused to rule out backing Anas Sarwar to be first minister.
Mr Findlay was asked outright if he would instruct his MSPs in the new parliament to back the Scottish Labour leader for Bute House during a visit to Aberdeen with UK leader Kemi Badenoch.
While he refused to be drawn on supporting Mr Sarwar, the Tory leader said he could never back John Swinney to return to the job.
“First and foremost, I’m fighting for every single Scottish Conservative vote and as many Scottish Conservative MSPs as possible,” he told journalists when asked if he would back Mr Sarwar.
“I’m just not going to get into post-election speculation about numbers, which none of us in this room or further afield know anything about.
“But what I will say, categorically, is I will not support and will never support an SNP first minister or SNP government.”
His comments come following a story in The Scotsman on Monday which quotes a senior Labour source, who says the party winning about a dozen constituencies in Scotland’s central belt could put them in a position to lead the government, but they would need the votes of other unionist parties, including Reform UK.
A deal between Labour and Reform would come as a surprise to many given the fractious relationship between the two parties, including a row in a by-election last year where social media ads produced by Nigel Farage’s party about Mr Sarwar were described as “racist” by critics.
The spectre of a deal between the two parties was raised by First Minister John Swinney at his party’s campaign launch, where he denied the idea was a “scare story”.
SNP campaign director Angus Robertson said the story showed there was “potential for a grubby, backroom deal” between the two parties, adding: “Until now, Labour had clearly been planning to pull the wool over the eyes of the people of Scotland – but this senior source saying the quiet part loud has shown people exactly what Labour would do given half the chance.”
Any deal to install Mr Sarwar as first minister would likely need the backing of other parties, including the Lib Dems.
But, asked by the Press Association if the Liberal Democrats would be open to such talks, the party’s UK leader Sir Ed Davey said: “No.
“It’s the start of an election campaign and the main thing for us is to win as many Liberal Democrat MSPs, whether it’s in the constituency, or by voting on the peach ballot paper.
“We think we can make big gains and that’s what we’re focused on.”
