Scottish Tories in election vow

Published on Thursday 14 May 2009 13:38

The Scottish Tories were today set on an election footing as they gathered for their spring conference.

The party is "ready to step up to the mark" and form the next UK Government, shadow Scottish secretary David Mundell told delegates in Perth.

Mr Mundell, the party's only Scottish MP, also insisted the Tories can increase their share of UK parliamentarians north of the border at the next General Election, due within a year.

"We are on an election footing," he said today.

"Our efforts in the months immediately ahead must be focussed on one thing – increasing the number of Scottish MPs at Westminster."

He added: "If people want to change, if they want a change of Government at Westminster, then the only way to achieve that is to vote Conservative."

A future Tory administration will be a "Government of thrift", he insisted.

Tory UK leader David Cameron and shadow chancellor George Osborne were praised for speaking out against the recent VAT cut and the notion that the country can continue "spending money it does not have".

Mr Mundell added: "We have a high quality team of people who can run our country at a difficult time and are ready to step up to the mark."

The Dumfries-shire, Clydesdale and Tweed-dale MP told delegates he is often introduced at London events as the party's only Scottish MP at Westminster.

But he added: "I am confident, no extremely confident, that that will not still be the case after 2010.

"We have committed candidates right across the country and several winnable seats."

The SNP's inability to deliver on key pledges like lower class sizes, student debt abolition and local income tax in Government at Holyrood also came under fire by Mr Mundell.

"It wasn't just the Arc of Prosperity that died in the last year, it was the SNP's credibility to deliver on domestic policy," he added.