SCOTTISH Conservative leader Ruth Davidson has said the party is "on probation" with its new supporters, after achieving its best ever result at the Scottish Parliament elections.
Ms Davidson led the party to second place, overtaking Scottish Labour by winning 31 seats at Holyrood.
The election triumph will see the leader return to the chamber with 24 new faces, after a clear-out of many long-serving Tory MSPs at the end of the last parliament.
In an interview with The Sunday Telegraph, she said she had "opened up" the party and that it now no longer mattered which school or background members and supporters came from.
READ MORE: Davidson slapped down by other opposition parties
A self-described "John Major Conservative", she said: "That is always what Conservatism was about for me - it's about clearing obstacles away from people, empowering people and using education as a means of bettering themselves.
"I want people who work hard and are rooted in our communities. When I became leader the biggest change I made was completely clearing out our candidates and we now see 24 new faces."
She added: "We still have a job of work to do. I completely understand lots of people voted for us for the first time. We're on probation and we want to do well by them. These are very mobile votes and they can be taken elsewhere pretty quickly. One good election doesn't make a revival."
Ms Davidson has already indicated she will use the party's more powerful position to exert influence over the new minority SNP government in areas such as the Named Person scheme, education, taxation, and any moves towards a second referendum on independence.
READ MORE: Bring it on, Ruth ... Sturgeon slaps down "over-reaching" Tory leader
Speaking on the BBC's Sunday Politics programme, she said: "I think I'm going to be a pretty robust opposition leader.
"I will seek to put forward alternatives. I want to be as positive as I can be. Not just scrutiny and blocking and questioning, although all of that is important ... But I want to put forward alternatives too.
"And I think for example one area we can make common cause is in reforming education. It's an absolute disgrace that our school performances have gone backwards in Scotland in recent years."
READ MORE: Nicola Sturgeon confirms intention to relaunch SNP's Independence campaign
She also said the election result has taken a "second independence referendum off the table for five years", adding that "whatever happens" with the EU referendum, "that is not a trigger point for a second (independence) referendum".
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