DOUGLAS Ross has admitted the Tories were in store for a “historically bad” election result – but insisted they were not doomed to “irrelevance” in opposition.
Responding to the exit poll, which predicted the Conservatives could be reduced to 131 seats with Labour on course for a landslide, the Scottish Tory leader said there was “no shying away” from the scale of the expected defeat.
Speaking on BBC Scotland, Ross said: “It is a historically bad night, there is no shying away from that at all and there will be a huge amount of reflection on the campaign and clearly the last few years.
Scottish Conservative leader Douglas Ross says it will be a "historically bad night" for his party and there will be reflection on the campaign and the last few years. https://t.co/ONKBE5Fsop pic.twitter.com/zrJGz4fkQN
— BBC Scotland News (@BBCScotlandNews) July 5, 2024
“It has been particularly difficult, there is no denying that and whoever forms the next parliamentary party will look at the options going forward and will assess the current state of the Conservative Party and how it rebuilds after this election result.”
Asked whether he agreed with comments made by former Tory MP Charles Walker (above) that the Tories were going to be consigned to “irrelevance”, Ross replied: “No I don’t and indeed the exit poll, if it is correct, actually has the Conservatives on a higher number of seats across the UK than many of the polls during the campaign had.
“There’s still a crucial role for the Conservative and Unionist Party at a UK level and here in Scotland. But I think we’ve got to wait and see what the final outcome is and what the party decides to do thereafter.
“This is clearly going to be a significant result for Keir Starmer and the Labour Party and we have to see what the Labour Party plan to do with what looks like a significant majority in the House of Commons.”
Ross faces the prospect of losing his seat in the Commons if he fails to win in Aberdeenshire North and Moray East.
His selection for the contest was controversial after David Duguid, who was recovering from a serious illness, was binned as the candidate in favour of the Scottish Tory leader.
Following the controversy, Ross said he would step down as the Scottish Tory leader after the election.
