Why the Tories and Lib Dems are fighting over the Holyrood 'peach'

In this election, two of Scotland’s parties have found themselves circling the same fruit - and both think it’s ripe for the picking.

The “peach ballot,” the regional list vote for the Scottish Parliament, has become the centrepiece of campaign messaging for both the Liberal Democrats and the Scottish Conservatives.

The reason is simple: when you can’t win the whole orchard, you fight over the fruit that’s left.

In James and the Giant Peach, the characters cling to an oversized piece of fruit as it carries them to pastures new. In Scottish politics, the Lib Dems and the Tories are trying to climb aboard their own giant peach in the hope that it carries them back to relevance.

READ MORE:

• Keith Brown on love, loss and Christina McKelvie’s legacy
• Findlay leaves door open to Reform deal at campaign launch
• 'Scottish independence support holds, but momentum is fading'

Russell Findlay has called it a “secret weapon” to stop the SNP win a majority, urging his members to “dream of peaches.”

But his "secret weapon" is really not that secret. Especially when it's also the campaign messaging from another political party.

Alex Cole-Hamilton is making a near-identical pitch, telling voters their second vote can elect Liberal Democrats, deliver “fairness” and stop an SNP majority.

Slightly different slogans, same strategy: squeeze as much as possible out of the list vote.

With 56 MSPs up for grabs this way which was established to proportionally represent the vote share, it's no surprise these parties are keen to push the peach.

Pollster Mark Diffley told The Herald the peach-focused strategy "makes sense" for each of these parties.

Get Scotland's top politics newsletter straight to your inbox.

For the Tories, he said they are likely to lose most of their constituency MSPs and turning to the list might help them make up ground they have lost.

For the Lib Dems, he pointed out, their lay of the land is different. All their seats are currently coming from constituencies but in a small number of areas. In other areas, the polling expert said they have a "good chance" if they can "maximise list share".

He added: "The strengths of the two parties are different geographically so the strategy is right for each."

What's more, constituency contests tend to favour dominant parties like the SNP, but the peach ballot offers a second bite. With a modest share of the vote, smaller parties can still win seats.

That matters in a race like this.

Both regional list-chasing parties can say that if people vote for them, they could prevent an SNP majority and ensure different voices will be heard in the chamber.

What's interesting though, is that only 6% of those polled in a recent Survation survey said they would vote tactically in the regional list to increase the number of pro-union MSPs and 10% said they would vote tactically to reduce the chances of their least preferred.

Asked by journalists today if he was running the same campaign as Russell Findlay as both are honing in on the peach ballot, Alex Cole-Hamilton said: “I don't think we're running the same campaign as the Tories at all. We're going up, they're going down. We overtook them at the General Election in Scotland. I'm planning to do the same here again.”

However the Scottish Conservatives criticised the Lib Dem leader's remarks, with a spokesperson telling The Herald Cole-Hamilton's party is "too weak to stand up to the SNP."

They added: "They've repeatedly backed high-tax SNP budgets and voted for Nicola Sturgeon's gender reforms and Humza Yousaf's Hate Crime Act.

"Pro-UK voters should use their peach ballot paper to vote for the Scottish Conservatives to help stop an SNP majority."

Survation polling for the Diffley Partnership on Tuesday has the Tories performing slightly better on the list than constituency- consistent in last few polls. Meanwhile the Lib Dems are performing similarly across the two. The seat projections indicate that the Tories would fall to 13 MSPs and the Lib Dems would rise to seven.

Cole-Hamilton insists his party is on the rise and the Tories are in decline. Findlay, meanwhile, is betting that anti-SNP voters will rally behind him.

The result is a quiet contest within the broader election - a fight not for first place, but for relevance.

So yes, both parties are obsessed with peaches. Because in this election, the peach ballot might be the difference between a foothold in parliament and being left with nothing but the stone.