Gove says Tories can gain more votes than Labour in Scotland

Chief whip Michael Gove has predicted the Tories will win more seats than Labour in Scotland in the general election, as Conservative activists posed in SNP T-shirts and Nicola Sturgeon masks outside the Houses of Parliament.

The former education secretary denied the event was a negative campaigning stunt but refused to be photographed with the group of about 50 on the grounds that it would dilute the message.

He said: “This is not a negative stunt. This is a vivid, visual metaphor of the chaos that would ensue if we have a weak prime minister at the head of a minority Labour government held hostage by the SNP.”

Insisting the Conservatives would do better than the Opposition, Mr Gove declined to say which seats his party would win, adding: “It would be wrong of me to alert the SNP, the Liberal Democrats and Labour to our highly effective ground operation.”

He was also asked how the Tories could trust the Liberal Democrats again after Danny Alexander’s decision to reveal proposals discussed under the coalition for £8 billion cuts to child benefit, which he suggested gave an indication of Tory plans after May 7.

Mr Gove replied: “I don’t think it took yesterday’s leak ... to make us aware of what the Liberal Democrats are really like, but we are prepared always to put aside any concerns about Liberal Democrat behaviour to work with them in the national interest.

“But we don’t need to worry about that if we do get what I believe we will get, which is a majority Conservative government.”

In contrast, he categorically ruled out a deal with either Ukip or the SNP.

Asked if David Cameron had been pulled to the right during his premiership on issues such as immigration or if his views had shifted, he replied: “Absolutely not.”

He insisted the Prime Minister had remained “absolutely plum at the heart of where the British public are”.