THE youth wing of Scotland's Tory Party has cancelled its annual conference because of a "lack of interest and declining membership".

Conservative Future Scotland (CFS), set up as an incubator for the next generation of Tory politicians, was supposed to hold the event in Edinburgh yesterday.

But it pulled the plug after selling just 12 tickets, declaring that the meeting at Teviot Row student union was "no longer viable".

The failure of the event is an early black mark against Scottish Conservative chairman, Richard Keen QC, who took up the post in January.

On Monday, the CFS Facebook page urged supporters to buy tickets for the conference at £6.50 each or £15 for over-30s, saying it promised to be an "exciting and interesting" event.

But 48 hours later, CFS posted: "We're sorry to announce the National Conference due to be held this Saturday 10th May has been cancelled. Due to lack of interest and declining youth membership numbers only 12 tickets have been sold."

The conference was due to run before lunch, followed by the CFS's annual general meeting. The AGM took place yesterday afternoon.

An SNP spokeswoman said: "It is no surprise the Tories have a problem finding supporters among Scotland's younger generation."

A Scottish Conservative spokesman said: "This is an internal party matter."