The Conservative party has rejected a suggestion from its leader in Scotland that voters could tactically back Labour to oust the SNP. Speaking to the Sunday Telegraph, Douglas Ross said “Where there is the strongest candidate to beat the SNP, you get behind that candidate.
It would be a case of parties doing “what’s best for the country”, he said. This is emphatically not the view of the Conservative Party,” a Tory spokesperson said. We want people to vote for Conservative candidates wherever they are standing as that’s the best way to keep Labour and the SNP out.
In most of the SNP’s constituencies, that would actually mean voting Labour or Liberal Democrat. In his interview, Mr Ross said: “The public know how to tactically vote in Scotland…
“I will always encourage Scottish Conservative voters to vote Scottish Conservatives. But I think generally the public can see, and they want the parties to accept, that where there is the strongest candidate to beat the SNP, you get behind that candidate.
“If parties maybe look a bit beyond their own narrow party agenda to what’s best for the country – and for me as Scottish Conservative leader, what would be best is if we see this grip that the SNP have on Scotland at the moment is loosened. But later on Sunday, Mr Ross sought to clarify his position, insisting this did not mean encouraging Conservative voters to vote for other parties.
He told BBC Scotland: “I urge every Scottish Conservative voter to vote Scottish Conservative and I would always do that.
“But we also know that in many parts of the country, the Scottish Conservatives are the biggest challengers to the SNP so if supporters of other parties unite behind the Scottish Conservative candidate, we have the best possible chance of defeating many SNP MPs.
“That will clearly send a message that the public want our politics in Scotland focused on their real priorities – not a divisive independence referendum. He added: “It is up to other party leaders to suggest what they are doing in the seats they are targeting.
“If the supporters of other parties unite behind us we can defeat the SNP and get a result similar or better than what happened in 2017 when the SNP lost a significant number of MPs.
Source: BBC
