DO the Scottish Conservatives know what a General Election is?
That’s a genuine question, given as they seem to have spent their entire campaign so far focusing on MSPs at Holyrood.
In case Douglas Ross is reading this: the General Election is about electing MPs to Westminster. Parties set out their policies in a manifesto, and people vote for the package that best fits with the direction they’d like to see the UK to go.
The General Election is definitely not about trying to get sitting members of the Scottish Parliament to resign. It is also not about a change in the Scottish Government.
If you want to see some movement there, you will need to wait till the 2026 Holyrood elections.
But ever impatient – perhaps he can feel his lacklustre leadership spell coming to its deserved end – Douglas Ross is out campaigning on issues that have no relevance to the General Election at all.
Today, it was removing John Swinney as First Minister.
Dressed in a black hoody – because the SFA definitely wouldn’t let him wear his official linesman kit – Ross took to a football pitch apparently by himself to wave a big red card at a cardboard cut-out of the three most recent SNP leaders.
The Scottish Conservatives got rid of Humza Yousaf and saw off Nicola Sturgeon. On July 4th, we've got an opportunity to make it a hat-trick against John Swinney. pic.twitter.com/lTkAJb9MoR
— Douglas Ross MSP (@Douglas4Moray) May 31, 2024
“The Scottish Conservatives got rid of Humza Yousaf and we saw off Nicola Sturgeon,” Ross said, being more than a little economical with the truth.
“On July 4, we can make it a hat-trick. So unite behind your local Scottish Conservative candidate, and let’s show the SNP the red card.”
Of course, if you’re living in the one-quarter of the Scottish constituencies lucky enough not to have a Tory candidate you won’t be able to help poor Ross out.
Then, even if you’re in an area with a Conservative on the ballot paper, voting for them will almost certainly have no impact at all on whether Swinney remains in post.
With the Scots Tories' obsessive focus on SNP politicians, you have to wonder why they’re not fighting the General Election on their London bosses’ policies, like national conscription.
Surely they can’t think that’s a pile of rubbish, can they?
