Friday was a difficult day for my party. We lost a number of MSPs who have been tremendous servants to the Scottish Conservatives and, more importantly, to the communities they represented.
I thank them all, but pay special tribute to Jackson Carlaw, our former leader who entered Holyrood in 2007 and served Eastwood constituency from 2016. Faced with a despicable rise in anti-Semitism, Scotland’s Jewish community will be acutely affected by his Holyrood exit.
We were braced for such blows, of course. The polls had confirmed what we already knew – this Scottish parliament election came early in the rebuilding process that I and Kemi Badenoch embarked on just 18 months ago.
But while the pain of losing good colleagues is still raw, the discussion among our new MSP group yesterday focused on the positives we take from the result.
Our ‘blue wall’ of seats across the south of Scotland held firm
I hit the campaign trail there in the final days of the campaign and I could not be more proud of Rachael Hamilton, Finlay Carson and Craig Hoy for holding off the challenge of the SNP, who were helped by Reform.
As the last regional results were declared – the MSPs elected thanks to those peach ballot papers – it also became clear we had achieved our aim of stopping an SNP majority. Critically, our group of MSPs remains the strong force to stick it to the SNP as John Swinney prepares to form a new government.
That will be more important than ever. We may be fewer in numbers but a cursory glance at the make up of the new parliament shows our role is in no way diminished.
We will remain the only real opposition to a tired and dishonest SNP. Make no mistake, John Swinney is not returning to Bute House on a tide of popular acclaim. After two decades in power and an abysmal record of failure, there is precious little enthusiasm for the SNP – apart from their base of diehard independence supporters.
Swinney’s was a win for that tiny minority of hardened Nationalists for whom breaking up Britain is their only goal.
John Swinney set himself the test of winning a majority, a result he claimed would give him the ‘mandate’ to press for an independence referendum. He failed, thanks to support for the Scottish Conservatives from across the country.
The real test for him now is whether, for once, he can put country before party, ditch his independence obsession and focus on issues that matter.
On Friday, less than 24 hours after falling short, he failed that test. He will again team up with the extremist, pro-independence Greens to peddle the lie that Scotland is clamouring for a re-run of the divisive 2014 vote.
Such a move could not get the new parliament off to a worse start. We warned throughout the election campaign that the SNP would plunge Scotland into another five years of constitutional grievance and distraction. It gives me no satisfaction to be proved right.
Throughout the campaign John Swinney has confirmed that he’s incapable of fixing the problems caused by years of SNP incompetence and inattention.
In large part, he owes his survival to Reform UK. In seat after seat, Reform votes ensured that a Nationalist MSP was returned. The newly elected Nationalist members for Eastwood, Perthshire South, Moray and Aberdeenshire East ought to have raised a glass to Nigel Farage and Malcolm Offord.
Stephen Flynn, the SNP’s Westminster leader, also made the switch to Holyrood courtesy of Reform. He took Aberdeen Deeside and North Kincardine by a margin of 1,244 votes from our candidate, Liam Kerr. Reform’s 6,000-plus votes were a gift to Flynn.
I warned repeatedly that a vote for Reform would only aid John Swinney’s return to power. It was galling to see it happen in real time as the results came in, not least because I do not believe it was the outcome most Reform voters wanted.
Reform’s shambolic campaign, unrealistic agenda and openness to a referendum gives me no confidence they can offer any kind of opposition to the SNP.
How will newly elected independence-supporting Reform MSP David Kirkwood vote when John Swinney demands powers to hold a referendum? Can a party that squabbled and bickered among themselves so much they lost nine candidates in the course of a six week campaign really stand up to the SNP?
Having helped John Swinney get back in, the evidence suggests they’ll give him an easy ride. Labour and the Lib Dems are toothless when it comes to taking on the SNP.
Labour have been shattered by their own arrogant sense of entitlement, as much as Keir Starmer’s failure. Will Scotland’s chattering classes ever stop peddling the pretence that Labour are the natural party of government?
Anas Sarwar promised to beat the SNP in dozens of constituencies across Scotland. The final score was 57 SNP and three Labour. At the time of writing, he continued to lead a party that has gone backwards in each of Holyrood’s seven elections.
The Lib Dems and the Greens return to Holyrood as a mere support act to the SNP. The Greens will support the SNP’s referendum push, while the Lib Dems will happily keep them in power in exchange for crumbs from the table at budget time. John Swinney surely cannot believe his luck.
I am immensely proud of the campaign my party fought, offering a common sense, low tax, pro-business alternative to the failed SNP agenda.
We were the only party serious about growing the economy and tackling the looming £5 billion black hole in Scotland’s public finances. We were the only party honest enough to say the SNP’s unfair and unaffordable benefits bill must be reined in to balance the books.
Those issues have not gone away and will continue to make our voice heard in the new parliament. A financial reality check is coming towards Holyrood like an out-of-control locomotive.
The election result was predicted but that makes it no less depressing for Scotland.
All I can do is promise you this: my dynamic dozen squad of MSPs will come out fighting. We will oppose, steadfastly, John Swinney’s drive for a referendum and we will challenge him to up his game, cut taxes, put money in people’s pockets, back business, and improve our wretched public services.
From tomorrow we are rolling up our sleeves as Holyrood’s only real opposition. No-one else is going to do it.
