By the time you are reading this the votes will have been decided, and we’ll know the outcome of the General Election. It’s not giving anything away to admit it has been a very hard campaign for Conservatives north and south of the border.
Some events in the last six weeks were unhelpful to say the least, but I still believe the issues on which we fought were the right ones, and given what Prime Minster Rishi Sunak inherited I don’t think he has received enough credit for stabilising the economy and taking important steps towards a lower personal tax burden.
Nor did the polls in Scotland reflect the overwhelming public support Scotland Secretary Alister Jack received for blocking the Gender Recognition Reform Act and the flawed deposit return scheme.
As for the vital Covid relief funds for business and the overwhelmingly successful vaccine roll-out, they are ancient history as far as this election is concerned and I’m not daft enough to expect voters to feel any sense of residual gratitude when household budgets have been so tight for the last couple of years.
That being said, I did meet a constituent who, having previously told me he’d never vote Conservative if Boris became PM, recognised the difficulties Rishi Sunak faced and that he had done a good job in the circumstances. And he was far from alone.
There are so many “ifs” since the 2015 General Election, but I’m proud to have played my part in making sure alternative views were heard in the darkest days when political debate seemed to be dominated by an increasingly hard-left agenda pursued by the SNP, Greens and Labour alike. It is only when the Labour Party woke up to what sensible Conservatives have always known, that most people reject extremism, that their fortunes improved.
That’s why it was so dispiriting that some Conservatives chose this week to attack our campaign rather than talk about the positive things we have done, as if it wasn’t hard enough when we were still out knocking on doors. I really hope they are proud of themselves.
I’ve also been asked why much of this campaign has focussed on issues not controlled by Westminster and the answer is simple, because those causing most concern have been controlled by the SNP Scottish Government for 17 years, particularly the state of the NHS.
Voters know Scotland spends more money on health than the rest of the country but don’t see the benefit. They know the Scottish Government is receiving record amounts of cash from Westminster, so they know who to blame. This is why the campaign has been as difficult for the SNP as it has been for us, but the difference is Conservatives have not tried to deny responsibility. It's revealing that the one seat where SNP support appeared to have held up reasonably well is Edinburgh South West where Joanna Cherry has received credit precisely because she opposed the SNP establishment, particularly over gender recognition. And at least the campaign gave her a reason to attend community events. Better late than never.
However the results have fallen, Lothian’s constituencies need visible and active local representatives focussed on bread-and-butter issues which matter to people every day. Divisive identity politics grabs headlines, but getting the basics right is vital.
