RUTH’S TORIES DEFY THE SNP

Dramatic surge gives party best-ever Scots council results Nationalists left reeling after backlash over 2nd referendum

THE Conservatives surged to their best-ever council election result in Scotland yesterday as Nicola Sturgeon suffered an anti-independence backlash at the ballot box.

Ruth Davidson’s Tories, who put their opposition to a second independence ref-erendum at the heart of their campaign, enjoyed another remarkable election success as their vote soared in every part of the mainland – putting them on track to take control of several councils.

At the same time, the SNP saw its vote plummet compared to recent elections, failed to win a single council outright, missed out on its key target of securing overall control of Glasgow and lost its majority in the so-called

‘Yes city’ of Dundee. And Labour suffered a third successive election humiliation in Scotland as its vote collapsed.

The results sparked claims that the SNP surge has now ‘come to a halt’ amid growing anger about the threat of Indyref 2.

In a dramatic day of council election results:

The Conservatives saw a surge in votes across the UK as Jeremy Corbyn suffered ‘disastrous’ results in Scotland, England and Wales.

Experts predicted that the SNP’s overall vote may have fallen below 40 per cent – well down on recent Holyrood and Westminster elections.

Ruth Davidson managed to get nearly double the number of councillors elected than in 2007 – which was previously the party’s best result since devolution.

The Tories won a seat in Paisley’s Ferguslie Park – Scotland’s most deprived area – for the first time.

The SNP vote plummeted in wards in the backyards of several of its senior MPs – including deputy leader Angus Robertson in Moray.

In Dundee, which pro-independence supporters describe as ‘Yes city’ because it had the highest Yes vote in 2014, the SNP lost the majority it secured in 2012.

Yesterday’s results mean the SNP now has 431 councillors across Scotland, up six on 2012, while the Tories have 276 – an increase of 161.

On a disastrous day for Labour, it lost 132 seats, leaving it with 262 councillors, while the Lib Dems suffered an even worse result than their disastrous showing in 2012, with only 67 councillors, down four on five years ago.

Miss Davidson said: ‘We have gained seats in councils all over Scotland today. We are now in a position to lead Scotland’s fightback on June 8 in the General Election too. We will speak up for the millions of Scots who have had enough of the uncertainty and division of the last few years. We will stand up for everyone who doesn’t want a second independence referendum.

‘We will demand that politicians of all parties focus instead on the things that matter: restoring excellence to our schools and getting our economy back to health.’

All 32 councils hang in the balance with no individual party in overall control – meaning there will be several days of negotiations between parties before it is known who will control each authority. The SNP failed to win a single majority and was not even the largest party in half of Scotland’s local authorities.

Elections expert John Curtice said early indications suggested the SNP would view the result as ‘disappointing’, with its share of first preference votes unlikely to pass 40 per cent.

In 2015, the SNP secured 50 per cent of votes in the general election, and 46.5 per cent in last year’s Holyrood elections. In Glasgow, the SNP won 41 per cent of the first preference votes, compared to 56 per cent in 2015.

Elections expert Professor Peter Kellner said: ‘Two years ago, the votes for the SNP in the general election were greater than that of the three main Unionist parties put together. There is now, as of yesterday, a fairly substantial majority for the three Unionist parties combined.’

Miss Sturgeon said: ‘In terms of the comparison with 2015 and 2016 it is not comparing like with like. Those were parliamentary elections, this is a council election. The SNP vote has held up... we will be the largest party in more councils. There is no way anyone can spin this as anything other than a clear and emphatic victory for the SNP.’

‘Leading the fightback’

THE groundwork for yesterday’s Tory triumph began long ago as Ruth Davidson began the revolution that transformed her party from toxic no-hopers to the opposition at Holyrood.

Her message – rock solid on the need to protect the Union as well as every penny of taxpayers’ money – struck a chord with a middle Scotland weary of the separatists’ spendthrift ways and endless constitutional agitation.

And nationally, under Theresa May, we are seeing a new kind of Conservative Party, very different from the elitist cronyism that scarred the Cameron years.

From being perennial underachievers, the Tory Party here in Scotland is now riding high, evidenced by its best-ever results in the council elections. And make no mistake: The SNP is rattled.

Alex Salmond resorted to boorish insults for those who dared defy him. Nicola Sturgeon tried to put a brave face on it all, talking up the party’s overall success. But the direction of travel is significant. If this Tory momentum can be carried on to June 8 and the general election, some very big Nationalists trees will be felled by the small but sharp Tory axe. Swings to the Tories of the magnitude seen yesterday would sweep many a smug SNP MP from their seats.

When the Tories can win council seats in Paisley’s Ferguslie Park, Glasgow’s Shettleston and the Calton; when they breach the impregnable ‘Yes city’ of Dundee – the Nationalists are right to be alarmed.

Their useful idiots on social media have been left grasping at straws, parsing the figures to try to prove that all this is merely the last hurrah of some hardcore Unionist rump.

Labour’s collapse has been abject but, even so, the Nationalists could not capitalise. They had targeted taking control of Glasgow City Council and came up short.

The days of Scottish no-go areas for the Tories are over. As are those when the SNP can hold the country to ransom with its ever-present threat of Indyref 2, endlessly obsessing about independence while the quality of life for hard-working Scots is eroded.