Fifth Gear

Douglas Ross has backtracked on a call for tactical voting to oust the SNP ahead of his party conference speech.

The Scottish Tory leader previously suggested unionist voters should select The Party with The Best chance of defeating the SNP.

That strategy was rejected by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak , who will also speak at the conference in Glasgow.

Mr Ross told Bbc Scotland he " never said" his supporters should vote Labour.

Speaking on The Bbc 's programme, He Said : " I Am a Scottish Conservative leader. I will always encourage people to vote Scottish Conservative. "

Mr Ross is expected to urge voters to back his party at The Next UK election at the annual party conference on Friday.

He will also claim the SNP has " crashed the case for independence" at The Event .

On Friday Mr Sunak credited Mr Ross with preventing the SNP from winning a majority at The Last Holyrood election in 2021.

He also told delegates the Scottish Government 's performance was a " record of failure" and vowed his party was committed to preserving " our precious United Kingdom . "

Earlier Mr Ross said the views expressed in a recent by former UK government minister Lord Frost - who wrote that the SNP's implosion was a chance to put devolution " into reverse" - were not shared by his party.

He Said : " Devolution is not working because of The Way the SNP are running a Devolved Parliament and a devolved government.

" The Problem is not devolution. The Problem is the nationalists. "

Asked to clarify his " not working" remarks, the Scottish Conservative leader highlighted NHS waiting lists and educational attainment levels.

Mr Ross is expected to return to the SNP's record at the Scottish Tory conference later when he Will Tell delegates people have a choice at next year's general election next year.

He will say: " They can give Humza Yousaf a blank cheque; the thumbs up to continue to lead an incompetent government and to Focus On the priorities of the SNP.

" Or they can unseat SNP MPs and their referendum obsession. And send a strong signal to Humza Yousaf 's government to Focus On their real priorities.

" And The Best way that Scots can do this in seats right across Our Country is to vote for the Scottish Conservatives. "

The Next general election is due to be held by January 2025. has reported that Mr Sunak is planning to hold a vote in October or November next year.

Mr Ross signalled his support for tactical voting in an interview with The Paper earlier this month, saying " where there is The Strongest candidate to beat the SNP, you get behind that candidate".

He later said he would " always" encourage Scottish Tory voters to back his party.

In response, Mr Sunak told Bbc Scotland that " Conservatives should vote Conservative".

Mr Ross is also expected to claim the SNP campaign for independence has gone into " reverse".

Douglas Ross may not have explicitly stated that people should vote Labour, but he absolutely did raise the prospect of tactical voting to that end.

And for All That he is now backing down a bit, he did it quite deliberately.

The Scottish Tory leader knew that the SNP would gleefully pounce on any suggestion that the " Better Together" alliance of the 2014 independence referendum could be resurrected.

He also knows that Labour are desperate for The Next election to hinge on anything other than The Constitution - a topic which has seen them squeezed out into third place behind the established parties of Yes and No, the SNP and Tories.

So anything that turns Scottish politics back into a binary bunfight over borders is absolutely fine by Mr Ross.

That's The Real tactic behind this row over voting strategies.

It Follows the resignation of Nicola Sturgeon as First Minister and the arrest of her husband, former chief executive Peter Murrell , in a Police Scotland finance probe.

As well as Mr Murrell, former SNP treasurer Colin Beattie was also arrested as part of The Police investigation. Both were released without charge.

As part of the case, police seized a luxury motorhome outside the home of Mr Murrell's mother in Dunfermline.

Mr Ross is expected to tell the Scottish Tory conference: " Humza Yousaf said that he wants to shift independence into 'Fifth Gear '.

" Yet instead, with an uninsured driver at The Wheel , The Campaign is going into reverse. The campervan has stalled. "

He Said the finance concerns had " blown a huge hole in the economic case for independence".

He pointed to the SNP's potential difficulty in meeting Electoral Commission accounting deadlines after The Party 's long-standing auditors quit Last Year .

The SNP's Westminster group could miss out on £1. 2m in public funds if it fails to file its accounts by the 31 May deadline, it has been confirmed.

Mr Ross is expected to say: " The SNP cannot even manage their own accounts, how can they be trusted on the finances of an independent Scotland?

" Nobody will ever believe a nationalist on currency, pensions and balancing The Books ever again.

" We have always known that our arguments on trade, currency and jobs were Stronger - and the 2014 referendum proved that.

" But now the SNP lack any credibility. Through their own blunders, the nationalists have crashed the case for independence. "

Mr Ross is expected to announce plans for a community energy benefit law, designed to help Scottish communities have more autonomy over energy developments in their area. He will say it could help cut energy bills and break down barriers to energy infrastructure.

After the conference was opened by Scottish Conservative chairman Craig Hoy , Mr Sunak said it was time for a government that " focuses on Scotland's real priorities, not constitutional abstractions".

During his morning speech at the Scottish Events Campus, Mr Sunak vowed he had " five priorities and they're priorities for the whole of UK".

The Prime Minister also told delegates a lot had changed since they last gathered.

After listing A Number of developments, including supporting families with the cost of living crisis, he added: " Finally, Nicola Sturgeon has left Bute House to take up Driving Lessons .

" Because someone has to got to drive that motorhome After All . "

Source of news: bbc.com