Ex-labour minister votes Tory in list

A former minister in Tony Blair's government has revealed he has voted for the Scottish Conservatives in this week's crucial Holyrood election.

Tom Harris said he voted tactically when he gave his support to the Tories in the regional section of the ballot paper.

Mr Harris, who was the Labour MP for Glasgow Cathcart from 2001 to 2015 but later left the party, wrote in the Scottish Daily Mail that backing the Conservatives on the list ballot is "a small price to pay if it helps elect one more pro-uk MSP in place of either of the nationalist parties hoping for success in Glasgow, the Greens and Alex Salmond's Alba".

It came as Ruth Davidson, the former Scottish Conservative leader, made a last-ditch plea to supporters of other parties to back the Tories with their second vote in a bid to stop an SNP majority and prevent Nicola Sturgeon from being able to hold another independence referendum.

Ms Davidson appealed to people who "don't for a second" consider themselves Conservatives to back her party "even if it's the most difficult decision you've ever had to make".

She insisted Scots face a "choice of two stark futures – referendum or recovery".

Ms Davidson wrote: "Our recovery rests on stopping that SNP majority and preventing another referendum. If the pro-uk vote sticks together behind the biggest opposition party, the Scottish Conservatives, we can stop an SNP majority."