Scottish Conservatives see huge gains to take second place in Scotland

The Scottish Conservatives are hailing an unpredicted surge in the Scottish Parliament election which makes the party the second biggest party in the Scottish Parliament.

In seats across Scotland the party saw an increase in its share of the vote, even in areas where the party has not performed well traditionally.

The party’s share of the constituency vote increased by 8.1 per cent from 2011 across Scotland, while the SNP’s increased by 1.1 per cent. Scottish Labour’s vote share was down 9.2 per cent. 

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Leader Ruth Davidson and Deputy Leader Jackson Carlaw picked up constituency seats in Edinburgh Central, where the party came from fourth, and Eastwood, and the party performed very well on the regional lists, picking up two in Glasgow, three in the Highlands and Islands and four MSPs in Mid Scotland and Fife.

Davidson said: “It’s been a really good night for us and even in these places that are not historical Conservative heartlands in places like Marwick, in East Kilbride, in Lanarkshire, we’ve been doubling our vote. In Falkirk, up by 10 per cent. These are really a testament to the hard work of my team right across the country.

“But I recognise that the people who are voting for us, they’re not all dyed in the wool blue Tories or anything like it, they’re voting for us because there is a very particular job that they want us to do, to be that strong opposition and it’s a job that I take exceptionally seriously and I will endeavour to execute to the very best of my ability.”

In a campaign that focused on the unionist tradition of the party, some commentators have said the Conservatives picked up votes from those who voted no in the independence referendum in 2014.