Scottish Conservatives say twelve seats are key to beating SNP

• Pro-Union campaign group urges people not to give votes to smaller parties such as Reform UK
• Battlegrounds where Tories hope to beat SNP spread mainly across North East and southern Scotland

This week’s General Election is the ‘best chance yet’ to defeat the SNP and end the party’s bid for independence, according to the Scottish Conservatives.

The Tories yesterday issued a rallying cry to their voters as the election campaigns enters its final days.

Party strategists are stepping up efforts to defeat the Nationalists with a heavily targeted campaign which has been focused on 12 key battlegrounds.

It comes as a pro-Union campaign group urged voters to back the best-placed pro-UK rival to the SNP and not smaller parties such as Nigel Farage’s Reform UK.

Scotland in Union, which is running a tactical voting campaign ahead of Thursday’s election, warned that people who vote Reform will only help make SNP victories more likely.

The SNP manifesto has said that winning a majority of seats in the election should trigger negotiations on a second independence referendum.

Scottish Conservative chairman Craig Hoy issued a rally cry to voters in final days of campaign

Scottish Conservative chairman Craig Hoy said: ‘This General Election in Scotland is a huge opportunity to beat the SNP, so that all of the focus can finally be on the things that really matter, such as faster GP appointments and fixing the roads.

‘If voters back the Scottish Conservatives in the key seats where we are going toe-to-toe with the Nationalists, it could be the season finale of the SNP’s bid for independence.

‘We could finish off any hope the SNP have of seeking independence and draw a permanent line under the debate that has divided Scotland for more than a decade.

‘Thursday’s vote is the best chance yet to beat the SNP but we need to make sure we seize it by voting Scottish Conservative in the key seats where it will be really tight. Even a few votes for another party, such as Reform, could help the SNP to win.’

The battlegrounds where the Scottish Tories believe they are best-placed to beat the SNP are mainly across the North East and southern Scotland.

Existing seats include the redrawn Aberdeenshire North and Moray seat where outgoing current leader Douglas Ross is standing, the Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk seat currently held by Scotland Office Minister John Lamont, and the West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine seat held by nuclear and renewables minister Andrew Bowie.

The 12 seats that could see the SNP finally defeated across Scotland

Key Tory targets currently held by the SNP include Richard Thomson’s Gordon and Buchan seat, Angus and Perthshire Glens currently held by Dave Doogan, and the Perth and Kinross-shire constituency of the SNP’s longest-serving MP Pete Wishart.

Party strategists believe many of the seats are on a knife-edge and that former Tory voters switching to Reform UK could be enough to hand the SNP victories.

Scotland in Union, which has recommended a candidate for pro-Union voters to back in all 57 Scottish constituencies, yesterday warned that votes for Reform will help the SNP.

Alastair Cameron, chairman of the campaign group, said: ‘Our tactical voting analysis across Scotland highlights who to back if you want to keep out the SNP.

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‘Reform does not feature in our recommendations, and it seems that anyone backing Reform would only be making an SNP win in their area more likely.

‘People decide how to vote for various reasons – but if they want to send the SNP packing and keep the UK together, then a vote for Reform in this election will simply not support that.’

A Scottish Labour source claimed canvassing on the doorsteps indicates that around one-fifth of the SNP’s core vote from 2019 has now deserted the party – and the support it has left is ‘soft’ and may switch to other parties.

In a plea mainly targeted at former SNP voters yesterday, Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar said: ‘For 14 years the Tories have caused economic turmoil and human suffering across Scotland – but in just 48 hours we have the opportunity to boot them out. The stakes could not be higher.

‘On Thursday, Scotland faces a stark choice between five more years of Tory sleaze, chaos and failure or change with Labour.’

Glen Reynolds, SNP candidate for West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine, said: ‘The only thing that will be finished come Thursday are the Tories.

‘They deserve the democratic drubbing that is coming their way, after 14 years of Westminster-imposed austerity, Brexit and the cost of living crisis.

‘On Thursday, the result of the election in England is already a foregone conclusion – Sir Keir Starmer is going to be the next Prime Minister. The only story left in this election is Scotland – where it is hotly contested between the SNP and the Labour Party.

‘It is only SNP voices in the Commons that will hold a Labour government to account and ensure that Scotland’s voice is heard.’

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