Scottish Tories face being dragged down by partygate
THE Scottish Tories are on course to finish behind Labour in today’s council elections, an opinion poll has predicted, as Douglas Ross issued a last-ditch appeal to Unionist voters angry at the Prime Minister over partygate.
A Savanta Comres poll yesterday put SNP support in the Holyrood constituency at 46 per cent, with Labour on 25 per cent, the Tories on 18 per cent and the Lib Dems on 7 per cent. Boris Johnson’s net favourability was minus 58 per cent, down seven points.
Chris Hopkins, the pollster’s director, cited partygate and the cost of living crisis for the decline in fortunes, saying it feels “more to do with the fortunes of the Conservatives than anything Labour are doing especially well”.
The poll, conducted for The Scotsman, was the latest predicting the Tories will fall behind Labour into third place for the first time in a Scottish election since becoming the main opposition party in the 2016 Holyrood contest.
Senior Tory figures said partygate is being raised on doorsteps, and fear it could see supporters stay at home today and Labour-supporting Unionists refuse to lend them tactical votes.
The scandal is difficult for Mr Ross, who was the first senior Tory to demand Mr Johnson’s resignation over partygate only to withdraw the opinion when Russia invaded Ukraine.
However, Mr Ross said he remained confident his party would finish ahead of Labour, noting it recorded its best ever result in a Holyrood election last year after similar surveys that wrongly predicted a third-place finish.
Speaking to The Daily Telegraph on the eve of the elections, he said though Mr Johnson was “not on the ballot paper”, Nicola Sturgeon was using him to distract voters from her own “dismal record”. The First Minister has sought to weaponise public anger at No10 to encourage Scots to vote for the SNP, saying they could “send a political shockwave to Downing Street.”
Mr Ross warned Mr Johnson he would not get a “free pass” over parties for however long the war lasts, but said there should not be a leadership change “in a crucial phase” of the conflict.