Sturgeon rattled as pro-union Scots rally behind Theresa
THE Conservatives racked up extraordinary gains in Scotland last night, as Nicola Sturgeon’s push for a second independence referendum backfired.
After years of Scotland being a nogo zone for the Tories, they became the second biggest party in local government there, pushing Labour into third.
Scottish Tory leader Ruth Davidson hailed a ‘huge resurgence’ against the SNP, which came close to making Scotland a one-party state in 2015.
The scale of the Conservative surge appeared to kill off any prospect of a second referendum on Scottish independence in the foreseeable future.
The Tories gained more than 150 seats, including their first ever councillor in Paisley’s Ferguslie Park, the most deprived ward north of the border.
John McIntyre will help to represent an area in which many live below the breadline, have less chance of finding well-paid work, and die younger, according to a Scottish Government report.
Fellow new Conservative councillor Thomas Kerr, 20, said he was ‘shocked’
‘Clear rejection of independence vote’
to be elected for the Shettleston ward of Glasgow. He credited opposition to a second Scottish independence referendum, adding: ‘When you stand as a candidate for the Conservatives in the east end of Glasgow you don’t expect something like this to happen.’
Labour suffered another disastrous night, losing control of Glasgow City Council, which it had held for almost 40 years, as it shed more than 100 seats.
Scottish Labour leader Kezia Dugdale said the results were ‘undoubtedly disappointing’ – and that pro-Union voters appeared to have backed the Tories.
‘We have seen the constitution bite again,’ she added. ‘There was a clear rejection the length and breadth of the country of Nicola Sturgeon’s plans for a second independence referendum.’
The SNP was also pushed back, losing control of councils in Dundee and Angus.
The Tory surge followed Theresa May’s rejection of the SNP’s demands for another vote on Scottish independence.
Miss Davidson last night said it was clear the Scottish people wanted to move on from ‘constitutional division’. ‘There were a lot of people who voted for us for the very first time and what I would say is that every single Conservative councillor who has been elected across Scotland will abso- lutely work so hard to put local services first and not drag us back to any more constitutional division,’ she said.
‘We’ve seen here today that the Scottish Conservatives are leading the fightback against the SNP, not just in rural areas or areas where we’ve traditionally been strong but in urban areas too.’
The local election results appeared to confirm recent polling suggesting the Conservatives could win as many as eight seats in Scotland at the general election, up from their current one.
Miss Sturgeon last night described the results as a ‘clear, emphatic win for the SNP’. The First Minister claimed voting in the wider UK underlined the need to back her party at the general election. ‘Obviously I’ve been focused mainly on results in Scotland, but looking south of the border it’s clear that the Tories look like they’re on track to win the general election on the strength of their support in England,’ she said.
‘So for people in Scotland, if we want to make sure there are strong voices for Scotland in Westminster, if we want to make sure there’s a really strong opposition to the Tories holding them to account, that can only come from the SNP in Scotland and this is a great launch pad for that campaign.’
But former SNP leader Alex Salmond acknowledged that his party faced a stiff fight against the Tories to hold on to seats it gained in 2015. He said it was clear the ‘Tory vote is on the rise’, adding: ‘In the shires, the Conservative vote is very strong and we will have to do something about that in five weeks’ time.’
He pointed out that Scotland was now the only part of Britain where the Tories are not in the lead.
But Tory sources believe the resurgence in their fortunes at the local elections puts a number of Scottish seats ‘in play’, including those of Mr Salmond and SNP deputy leader Angus Robertson.
The Conservative revival marks a dramatic turnaround for a party that was wiped out in Scotland in the New Labour landslide of 1997.