Ruth: We’re past ‘peak Nat’... SNP are on the wane

SCOTLAND has passed ‘peak Nat’ and support for the SNP is on the decline, Ruth Davidson will tell the Scottish Tory annual conference.

The former leader of the party will give a speech to delegates this afternoon saying Nicola Sturgeon is no longer likely to win a majority at the Holyrood election.

Miss Davidson, who leads the Scottish Conservative group at Holyrood, is not running for re-election as an MSP and is expected to enter the House of Lords when the current session of the Scottish parliament ends.

She will say today: ‘Over the last few weeks, something in Scotland has changed. We’ve passed peak Nat and, more and more, Scotland is saying “enough”.

‘An SNP majority government – once seen as a nailed-on nearcertainty, and for so long the outcome almost universally forecast amongst the pundits – now looks much less sure.

‘It’s vital that majority is stopped because it’s the only way to be certain that Scotland isn’t dragged back into another independence referendum when we all need to be focusing on building a recovery from the pandemic.’

She will also say: ‘At the last election in 2016 the SNP fell just two seats short of an overall majority.

‘That derailed their drive for another independence referendum five years ago.

‘And it was achieved because people right across Scotland who wanted to stop the SNP gave their party votes to the Scottish Conservatives. We did it together, and we can do it again.’

Tomorrow, the virtual conference will also feature speeches from Boris Johnson, Chancellor Rishi Sunak and Scottish Secretary Alister Jack.

Scottish Conservative leader Douglas Ross will deliver his keynote address on Monday.

The Prime Minister is expected to say that only his party can ensure the SNP do not get a majority at the election in May – and that he does not back their calls for a second referendum on breaking up Britain.