THE Scottish Tories defeated Labour at the last Holyrood election after hiring one of the party’s former advisers to help them on policy.

Professor Arthur Midwinter, a Labour adviser between 2007 and 2011, was paid £5,000 by Ruth Davidson’s party in the run-up to the campaign.

Labour had more than double the number of MSPs than the Tories in the last Parliament, but the Conservatives overtook Kezia Dugdale’s party in May after a historic election. Davidson’s strong pro-Union message and her opposition to tax rises were seen as key factors behind a rare Tory success.

Professor Midwinter, listed as an associate at the Institute for Public Sector Accounting Research at Edinburgh University, advised Labour during Iain Gray’s spell as leader.

He was paid £5,000 for “manifesto or referendum material”. A Scottish Tory spokesman confirmed the payment was for his work which “fed into” the party manifesto.

Midwinter said: “I don’t care what people think. I got asked to do a professional job and that’s what I did. I didn’t make any of the recommendations. I just guided them on what the implications of different options would be.”

An SNP spokesperson said: "It might raise some eyebrows that a former Labour adviser could so seamlessly move to advise the Tories on tax – but it's hardly the first time the parties have been shown to be two sides of the same coin."