Douglas Ross is backing down desperately after urging the Scots to consider voting Labor.

Douglas Ross faces backlash after urging Conservative voters to support 'the strongest candidate to win the SNP&#39 ;, even if it means electing a Labor Party candidate. Photo: Andrew Milligan/Pennsylvania.

Douglas Ross has been desperate to backtrack on his advice to voters to support Labor candidates in next year's general election if they have a better chance of ousting the SNP. deputies.

The leader of the Scottish Conservatives provoked a backlash from the British party by using an interview with the Telegraph to prove that «where there is the strongest candidate who can beat the SNP, you support that candidate.»

In an attempt to defuse the scandal, Mr. Mr Ross said he «will always encourage the Scottish Conservatives to vote Scottish Conservative» and insisted that his call for a tactical vote was a call for Labor and Liberal Democrat supporters to support his party.

But his claims that his comments were misunderstood were undermined by a similar call he made ahead of the 2021 election for Holyrood. » />

In an effort to get Unionists to vote tactically in the poll, he invited the Conservatives to vote Labor in Scottish constituencies where his party had no chance.

The attempt was successful as they stopped Nicola. Sturgeon, the former First Minister, from winning a one-seat majority in the SNP thanks to an unprecedented level of tactical voting, especially from Tory supporters.

The SNP benefits from the «first-pass» system used to determine results in 73 constituencies of the Scottish Parliament and 59 Scottish seats in Westminster, with the vast majority of supporters of independence voting for the party.

In contrast, the Unionist vote is split between Tories, Labor and the Liberal Democrats, allowing the SNP to pass through the middle.

Mr Ross told The Telegraph that Conservative voters in Scotland should «do what's best for the country» and support «the strongest candidate to beat the SNP» in their constituency, even if that means electing a Labor MP.

As the SNP collapsed following the resignation of Nicola Sturgeon and the arrest last week of Peter Murrell, her husband, Mr. Ross has argued that voters' top priorities should be to eliminate nationalist MPs and prevent a new independence referendum, not the success of his own party.

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He also urged Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, as well as Labor leader Sir Keir Starmer, to «go a little beyond their narrow party agenda» to keep the UK united.

The Tory representative in London hit back, saying that the tactical plan for the vote was «categorically inconsistent with the view of the Conservative Party» and that the Scots should support the Tories «wherever they stand.»

Mr Ross told GB News& #39; The Camille Tomini Show: «What I'm trying to say is that there are many places in Scotland where our party, the Scottish Conservatives, are the top contenders for the SNP.

“So if people want to get away from the decade of division we had under Nicola Sturgeon and continued under Humza Yousaf then vote Scottish Conservative which means that in some places Liberal Democrat and Labor voters support the Scottish Conservative candidate «.

He told host Christopher Hope that the Scottish and British Tories were united in their desire to «maximize» the number of elected Conservative MPs. Mr Ross argued that voting for other parties in many parts of Scotland only helped the SNP.

«In the next election for Holyrood, the SNP will be in power for almost two decades, and no one can say that Scotland is better off as a result.»

Christopher Hope questions Conservative MP Douglas Ross about why he is telling the Scottish Conservatives to vote Labor. pic.twitter.com/t4HbYXqxXL

— GB News (@GBNEWS) April 9, 2023

Craig Hoy, chairman of the Scottish Conservatives, insisted that the party «will always advocate for the Scottish Conservatives to vote for the Scottish Conservatives» but did not discourage voters from voting Labor to rule out the SNP.

He told the BBC Scotland Sunday show that voters would «take their own mind.»

Jackie Bailey, Scottish Labor Deputy Leader of the 39th Party said it was «a desperate measure on the part of the Tories to strengthen their votes in the places they actually occupy.»

Keith Brown, Deputy leader of the SNP, said: «It shows how little difference there is between the Tories and the pro-Brexit Labor Party, that Douglas Ross is ready to support them and not his own party.»