Tory poll slump as Scots leader bids to rally troops

Davidson pledges to head charge for No vote

THE Conservatives have slumped to eight points behind Labour in the aftermath of the Budget, on a weekend where the Prime Minister delivered a tough wake-up call to Scottish Tories.

The party faithful arrived in Troon for the Scottish conference on Friday with alarm bells ringing as George Osborne’s plan to cut tax thresholds for the elderly was dubbed the “granny tax” and coverage was most hostile in papers usually most on-side with Conservatives.

Yesterday an opinion poll by Survation for one of those newspapers had Labour on 39%, the Conservatives on 31%, and the Liberal Democrats languishing on 11%, just three points ahead of UKIP. For a UK poll “others” were high, on 11%, which may indicate Nationalist support.

David Cameron still had a seven-point lead over Ed Miliband on the economy, but tellingly, Mr Osborne had been overtaken by Labour’s Ed Balls.

The so-called “granny tax” was opposed by 63% to 20% while the cut in the top rate of income tax from 50p to 45p was opposed by 44% to 30%.

The Scots Tories had claimed a surge in membership from 9000 to 11,000 in recent months but in Troon attendances were well down on last year.

After the Prime Minister made clear his impatience with the lack of progress north of the Border, telling party representatives to end the “hand-wringing” and get out and capture the centre-right vote, it came down to the new Scottish leader Ruth Davidson to try to boost morale in her first conference speech in the job.

Whether some internal party reforms and a promised new

A MEETING OF MINDS: Ruth Davidson and Home Secretary Theresa May embrace at the Scottish Conservative Conference in Troon yesterday. Picture: David Cheskin/pa logo to replace the UK tree symbol will suffice remains to be seen as the Tories look forward to their next test in the council elections in May.

Ms Davidson made it her party’s goal to “reclaim our place as the voice, and party of choice, for mainstream Scotland”.

Agroup including Mepstruan Stevenson, former Scotland Office Minister Jamie Lindsay, MSP John Lamont and Edinburgh businessman Iain Mcgill, will lead “the broadest review” of Tory policies since devolution.

Deputy leader Jackson Carlaw is leading a consultation on future grassroots party structure, and a review of candidate selection.

With Scotland’s constitutional future dominating the political agenda, Ms Davidson used much of her speech to the conference in Ayrshire to make the case for the Union.

She told delegates: “When it comes to the very future of the country I love, I will not falter. As Conservatives, where we need to lead, we will lead. Where we need to join, we will join. And where we need to fight, we will not be found wanting.”

Ms Davidson stuck solidly to the need for a No vote, saying: “Today we stand on the brink of history. The world is watching, this is our cause and we will not be found wanting.

“We will add our sound to the millions of voices declaring as one: Astrong Scotland in a strong Britain. Together for good.”

Former Holyrood Presiding Officer Alex Fergusson argued that if the SNP are to be defeated decisively then the Tories had to suggest what plan for devolution they were suggesting instead.

He said: “I want independence off the agenda for a century or more, not just for a generation.

“If that is to be achieved I believe that the UK Government should state categorically that in the event of a No vote in the referendum it will – not it might or it could – but it will establish a commission to look at the future constitutional structure that will deliver a long-term, stable and sustainable relationship between the governments and parliaments of our country.”

Meanwhile Home Secretary Theresa May was accused of scaremongering after warning an independent Scotland could mean “mass immigration” and checks at the English border.

SNP Home Office Affairs spokesman Pete Wishart said: “This is rank hypocrisy from Theresa May, who presided over one of the biggest immigration fiascos in recent memory, so Scotland needs no lessons from her on how t o manage immigration.

“The reality is that an independent Scotland will be part of the Common Travel Area which already exists within and between the UK and Ireland, so talk of border checks are nothing more than scaremongering Tory nonsense.”