The Scottish Tories need a better election strategy

It is no surprise that the Scottish Conservative manifesto launch was centred on independence. While Scotland’s Tories talk about the SNP’s obsession with the subject, they are a little less happy to mention their own preoccupation with separatism. It’s rather more awkward for the Scottish Conservative and Unionist party to admit that, without independence on the table, their role in Scotland becomes a little less clear.

Opening his party’s manifesto launch in Edinburgh with some light football bonhomie around Scotland’s disastrous Euro’s effort, Douglas Ross – who recently made history as the first party leader to announce his resignation during an election campaign – quickly segued to the heart of his general election pitch: SNP out. While First Minister John Swinney promised his party’s manifesto would put independence ‘page one, line one’, written at the top of the Scottish Conservatives’ manifesto are the words: ‘Beat the SNP.’