Tory gains down to Labour's failure to present itself as credible, says Patrick Harvie

The Scottish Tory gains in the election were the result of Labour’s failure to present itself as a credible force, according to Green co-convener Patrick Harvie.

The Scottish Conservatives, running on the clear promise to oppose another referendum, gained 16 seats in the election, and the pro-independence Scottish Greens’ total went up by four, while Labour lost 13 seats.

Kezia Dugdale was forced to clarify her party’s stance on independence after being quoted as saying it was “not inconceivable” she would vote for independence if the UK voted to leave the EU while Scotland voted to remain.

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Scottish Labour’s manifesto later committed the party to voting against another referendum if it was tabled in Parliament.

But Harvie said constitutional issues only partly explained the result.

He said: “Clearly the Conservatives have been very successful at appealing on the issue of the constitution. They are the ones that have been raising persistently at every opportunity indyref two, indyref two, indyref two, far more than the pro-independence parties have been doing.

“But I think equally significant is the Labour party’s failure to present itself as a credible, progressive force on the left of Scottish politics. It has lost the trust of a great many people and that is a big part of the reason so much of their support has vanished.”

He added: “For ourselves, probably the most important factor has been the scale of the campaign we have been able to run. We have always been convinced there are more people out there who are willing to vote Green than have done it before, we have had a strong Green case but we have not had the capacity to bring that case to voters.”