NICOLA Sturgeon reminded Rishi Sunak about the importance of respecting democratic mandates when the new Prime Minister called her during his first day in office.
The SNP leader said the two had a “constructive” conversation on Tuesday evening during which she also warned against a return of austerity.
It comes after Sunak pledged to “fix” the “mistakes” made by Liz Truss during her short time in No 10, during which she did not call Scotland’s leader once.
The new Prime Minister has said he wants to abandon the “devolve and forget” mentality at Westminster and lead a “UK-wide” government.
Andrew Bowie, a prominent Sunak backer who was snubbed for a ministerial role in the Cabinet reshuffle, said on Tuesday that the UK Government wanted to “re-establish an element of respect” between itself and its Scottish counterpart.
Sturgeon said she had expressed a similar hope when she spoke with Sunak.
The First Minister tweeted: “Constructive call with @RishiSunak tonight. I expressed hope that we will build a UK/Scot Gov relationship based on mutual respect – inc for mandates – and my fear that further austerity will do real damage to people and public services.
“I look forward to further engagement soon.”
Constructive call with @RishiSunak tonight. I expressed hope that we will build a UK/Scot gov relationship based on mutual respect - inc for mandates - and my fear that further austerity will do real damage to people & public services. I look forward to further engagement soon
— Nicola Sturgeon (@NicolaSturgeon) October 25, 2022
Sunak has faced calls for a General Election – including from within his own party – amid claims that he has no mandate to lead the country considering he is the third Tory Prime Minister in two months.
Sturgeon’s Scottish Government in turn has struggled to have their mandate to hold an independence referendum respected by a Tory government set on blocking any such vote. The stand-off has culminated in a Supreme Court case to try to end the stalemate.
Sunak also warned about the need for difficult decisions to balance the books due to “mistakes” made by previous Tory administrations during his first speech as Prime Minister. This was widely read as a warning of the return of large public spending cuts.
A Scottish Government spokesperson said the phonecall between the two had been “brief and introductory”.
They said: "The First Minister and the Prime Minister had a brief, introductory call this evening. The First Minister congratulated the Prime Minister on his appointment and wished him well.
"She expressed her hope that political differences notwithstanding, they would build a constructive working relationship. She made clear that the Scottish Government would do everything possible to establish such a constructive relationship but stressed that this must be built on mutual respect.
"The First Minister also expressed the strong view that the UK Government should address the pressure and pain being felt by people and businesses as a result of inflation and other economic pressures, and should not exacerbate that with a further wave of austerity.
"She welcomed the Prime Minister's assurance of engagement with the devolved Governments ahead of the Chancellor's forthcoming budget statement.
"Finally, the First Minister made clear her intention to honour the mandate the Scottish Government received from the people of Scotland at the last election."
The UK Government has not yet released any information about the call from their end. However, they have released statements about calls Sunak took with US President Joe Biden and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
