Tories slump to third place in Scotland
SCOTTISH Tory leader Douglas Ross said Boris Johnson “can’t ignore the message” from voters after the party suffered a drubbing in council polls.
TheTories sank to third place behind Labour as Nicola Sturgeon’s SNP topped the poll, gaining 62 council seats and taking their total haul to a record 453.
Speaking to the BBC from the election count in Moray, Mr Ross said: “It’s been a difficult night and the results coming in today are very disappointing.”
He highlighted gains in Moray and Aberdeenshire, but said: “In too many parts of Scotland, we’ve lost excellent candidates and councillors haven’t been re-elected because it seems many of our supporters decided to sit this one out, to protest and not cast their vote, and we’ve lost out as a result of that.”
Protest
When asked whether he believes Mr Johnson should lead the Conservatives into the next general election, Mr Ross said: “The Prime Minister simply can’t ignore the message that’s been sent from voters not just here in Scotland, but across the UK.
“The Conservatives lost Westminster Council last night – that’s a council that even in the peak Labour years under Tony Blair the party held on to – so there’s been a very strong message from the public to the Prime Minister.”
Former ScottishTory leader Baroness Ruth Davidson, said on Twitter that said the party had to compete against the 2017 resuly when they returned the most councillors in 40 years.
She also leant her support to Douglas Ross, stressing the gains made at last year’s Holyrood election.
“In terms of questions of leadership, I know what it’s like to lose seats at my first local election, before coming back stronger,” she added.
The SNP was declared the largest party in the election for Glasgow City Council, with 37 seats to Labour’s 36. The Green Party gained 16 seats across the country.