RUTH Davidson has urged voters to use the local elections to “send Nicola Sturgeon a message she won’t forget” and make her “pay the price for 15 years of failure.”
The former Scottish Tory leader said May 5 was a "golden opportunity" to pay back the SNP for cutting council budgets and kick them out of power across Scotland.
Campaigning in Edinburgh alongside her successor Douglas Ross, the Tory peer also warned SNP-Labour coalitions represented a “threat” to communities.
The Scottish Tories came second at the last local election in 2017, winning 276 of Scotland’s 1,227 seats, an increase of 161 on their 2012 result.
The SNP added six councillors to end on 431, while Labour lost 132 and fell to 262.
Labour are currently in coalition with the SNP in six of Scotlanc’s 32 local authorities.
Ms Davidson said: “Last time around, pro-UK voters united to back the Scottish Conservatives to stop the SNP.
"The opportunity to kick the SNP out of power is even greater in this election.
“Local results over the last year show how close it is between the SNP and Scottish Conservatives in councils across the country.
“Across all the council by-elections held last year, out of the tens of thousands of votes cast, the Scottish Conservatives were just 300 votes behind the SNP, with Labour and the Lib Dems far behind in third and fourth place.
“Now, people right across Scotland have the chance to make Nicola Sturgeon pay the price for 15 years of failure.”
She went on: “This is a golden opportunity to hold the SNP accountable for more than a decade of cutting council budgets, running down Scotland’s schools, leaving roads scarred with potholes, and centralising services away from local communities.
“Use your ballot to send Nicola Sturgeon a message she won’t forget. Vote Scottish Conservative to get all of the focus back onto your local priorities.”
The message is a mirror version of the SNP’s local election slogan, which is that voters should vote for them to send Boris Johnson a message about the cost of living crisis.
With Labour currently ahead of the Tories in the polls, the SNP and Labour have said it is embarrassing for Mr Ross to have to turn to Ms Davidson to boost his “failing” campaign.
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