The Scottish National Party’s longest-serving MP, Pete Wishart, has distanced himself from the party’s campaign message of making Scotland “Tory free.” On Saturday, Humza Yousaf urged members to “make history” by keeping the Conservatives out of Scotland, but Mr. Wishart called the rhetoric “unhelpful.” He also emphasized his commitment to ensuring the Tories are kept out of Perth and Kinross-shire, whilst making it clear that he will not use “Tory-free rhetoric” in the election. Former First Minister Nicola Sturgeon’s top advisor, Liz Lloyd, described the election message as “a little confusing,” particularly felt difficult to sell in the central belt areas where Labour could gain support.
When speaking on The Sunday Show of BBC Radio Scotland, Lloyd noted that the Scottish National Party sought a way of tackling the Labour Party’s increased influence in Scotland without clashing head-on with the opposition. Lloyd recommended that the SNP push forward with messaging about the economy and the cost of living, adding that the SNP was “getting swayed a little bit by what’s in the news.” Additionally, Lloyd believed that independence would be “page one, line one” of the election manifesto, but that independence support is probably not going to change at this election, and the public wants to understand how their current powers will affect change in Holyrood.
Regarding a party dispute, Yousaf confirmed that former health secretary Michael Matheson’s position as an MSP was not in danger. Despite months of pressure following a near-£11,000 data roaming bill racked up on his parliamentary iPad during a family holiday to Morocco and his failure to report the bill properly, Yousaf defended Matheson, who left his health post voluntarily. He prevented Matheson from being fired, despite an initial willingness to use parliamentary expenses to pay off the debt, which was later conceded to be unfair
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