Scots punish Tories over Covid gaffes
Labour has overtaken the Conservatives to claim second place in the Scottish local elections for the first time since 2012.
The Scottish National Party (SNP) comfortably won, enjoying its best ever local election result, but Labour took control of West Dunbartonshire council, and came within one seat of the SNP as it made gains in
Glasgow.
The SNP gained control of authorities and added councillors across the country, but the Conservatives crashed to third place in both vote share and number of seats.
Nicola Sturgeon, the SNP leader and Scottish First Minister, said: ‘‘This is a devastating result for the Tories, no bones about it.’’
Douglas Ross, leader of the Scottish Conservatives, came under fire from some of his own side as he tried to blame the disastrous result on British Prime Minister Boris Johnson. Ross said Johnson ‘‘can’t ignore the message’’ sent by voters, many of whom turned away from the Conservatives over the government’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic, including parties held in Downing St during lockdown.
However, Ross was criticised for reversing his call for the prime minister to quit, citing the need for stability at the top of the government due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. He had written a letter of no confidence before withdrawing it.
The losses were little surprise to the Tories, who had been receiving warnings in focus groups for weeks that voters were preparing to turn away. ‘‘We have heard people say to us directly, ‘This partygate stuff, I don’t think I can vote Conservative while Boris is prime minister’,’’ a source said.
Focus groups had shown resentment over Covid as well, the source added. ‘‘If you have lost a loved one, you are rightly angry.’’
The Tory performance was in contrast to just five years ago, when Baroness Davidson of Lundin Links led the party to large gains.