Scottish Conservative leader Russell Findlay has said that poor polling projections are “motivating” his party ahead of the Holyrood election.
Mr Findlay said the party has proved polling experts wrong after being “written off” ahead of previous elections, and he urged voters to help do so again by backing the Scottish Tories on the peach-coloured regional list ballot paper.
Campaigning in Burnside, South Lanarkshire, on Saturday he was joined by former Scottish Conservative leader Baroness Ruth Davidson who described the peach ballot as “voters’ secret weapon”.
Recent polls suggest the Tories – who were the second-largest party in the Scottish Parliament after the last election – face losses this time round.
One survey carried out for More in Common projects that the Tories would drop to 12 seats, compared with 31 in 2021.
Mr Findlay told the Press Association: “These polls are motivating us because we are so used to being written off.
“You look at previous elections, all the experts said the Scottish conservatives would have a dreadful result.
“We proved them wrong, and the way in which we did so is using that peach-coloured ballot paper to return as many Conservative MSPs as possible, to stop the SNP.
“And we’re standing up for hard-working Scots. We want to reduce their taxes. We want to get Scotland working again. We’ve got the people to do so, and we’ve got the plan to do so.”
The major multilevel regression with post-stratification (MRP) poll for More in Common spoke to more than 5,000 Scots between February 4 and April 10.
According to the survey, the SNP would drop to 56 seats – down from 64 at the last election.
Reform would move into second place on 22 seats, while Labour would fall to 17 MSPs and continue in third.
Asked whether Lady Davidson was joining the campaign trail because the party felt it needs an extra boost, Mr Findlay said: “I’m joined by colleagues every single day.
“Last week, I was up in Aberdeenshire with Douglas Ross, our former leader.
“Today, I’m delighted to be joined by Ruth and every day we’re out, a huge, enthusiastic team, because we all understand how critical this election is.
“John Swinney thinks he’s going to walk back into Bute House, immediately demand another referendum from the weakest Prime Minister in living memory, and that’s the last thing that Scotland needs.
“People are desperate to have common-sense MSPs at Holyrood focused on the cost of living, and that’s what we are doing.”
Mr Findlay and Lady Davidson were campaigning in Glasgow with Annie Wells, Scottish Conservative candidate for the Rutherglen and Cambuslang constituency and the party’s lead candidate for Glasgow on the regional list.
He said that voting Scottish Conservative on the regional list stopped an SNP majority in 2016 and 2021 and urged people to do so again on May 7.
His comments were echoed by Lady Davidson, who said: “The peach ballot paper is voters’ secret weapon – and it’s vital they cast it for the Scottish Conservatives to stop an SNP majority.
“Labour are too weak to stand up to John Swinney, while Reform can’t even claim to be a unionist party when they are fielding pro-independence candidates and Lord Offord is relaxed about another referendum.
“Russell and the Scottish Conservatives are the only party that can be trusted to defend the Union.”
SNP Depute Leader Keith Brown said: “The Tories are a busted flush in Scotland – they have lost swathes of their support to Reform and Russell Findlay is growing more desperate and adopting more and more extreme positions to try and win them back.
“Voting SNP on 7th May is vital to elect a government on Scotland’s side which truly stands against the poison of Nigel Farage and Reform UK.
“Under John Swinney’s leadership, the SNP government is laser-focused on the issues that matter – helping families with the cost of living, improving our NHS and delivering the fresh start of independence.
“Only a vote for the SNP can ensure families in Scotland benefit from the best cost-of-living support anywhere in the UK, protect our NHS and escape the constant chaos of Westminster control with independence.”
Scottish Labour deputy leader Jackie Baillie said: “It is absolutely clear that right across Scotland, Scottish Labour is the only party that is capable of beating the SNP.
“All the Scottish Tories and Reform want to do is stand in opposition to the SNP. Scottish Labour wants to remove them from office.
“On May 7, the people of Scotland will have the opportunity to kick the SNP out of power after 19 years and choose a new direction with Scottish Labour.”
Liberal Democrat MP Wendy Chamberlain said: “Meanwhile, their poll projections are motivating former Scottish Conservative voters to switch to Scottish Liberal Democrats because they want a party that is growing and committed to delivering change with fairness at its heart.”
Reform UK Scotland Holyrood candidate Thomas Kerr said: “Poor Russell Findlay is so unknown and pointless that the Tories have had to bring a has-been from the past back to save their flailing campaign.
“Baroness Davidson won’t save them – she created the policy void and lack of ambition the Scottish Tories now religiously hold onto.
“Findlay has said it’s ‘not credible’ he would be First Minister and that they can’t win. So, Reform has one question – what is the point in a pointless man like Russell Findlay?
“Reform is going into this election to win, we can beat John Swinney and remove this rotten SNP government, but only by using both votes for Reform.”
