AFTER four separate elections and a referendum on our membership of the EU in just over two years, there is no doubt that politics in Scotland has engaged more people and more opinions than ever before.

In the wake of the independence referendum, and in the short space of 25 months, the SNP has firmly established itself as the major force in Scottish politics. We have formed a third Scottish Government, emerged as the dominant force in local government up and down the country, and have once again become Scotland’s largest party at Westminster.

Last week’s result was not a universal success, I understand this better than most, and I know that it will take time for MPs and our teams to recover from the individual disappointment that some of my colleagues and I now must come to terms with. But as the dust settles, our individual circumstances stand in contrast with the progress that we have undoubtedly made together as a party.

Now is the time to pull together and regroup, as the next few months will define the direction of Scottish politics for a decade.

We have indeed won the election in Scotland, but seem to have fallen short when it’s come to effectively telling our story, during the campaign or in the days that have followed. In contrast the Tories lost the popular vote in Scotland and gained only a small minority of seats, but have begun work quickly to attempt to reframe the debate and distance themselves from Theresa May’s failing premiership.

It’s clearly absurd to think that Scotland’s Conservative and Unionist Party MPs can even attempt to sustain the argument, let alone make it, that they can stand up effectively against their own Tory UK Prime Minister. We must seize the initiative now and re-affirm our convincing and genuine narrative of how the SNP is the only party that can properly hold this already teetering administration to account.

Ruth Davidson’s one-dimensional election strategy has undoubtedly brought her short-term success, but it’s left a blank canvass in terms of her wider policy agenda. Unfortunately for her this void is about to be filled by the unsavoury combination of Theresa May’s discredited manifesto and the DUP.

During the month of May, up and down the country prospective Tory parliamentarians attempted to distance themselves from their own unpopular policies on the probable impact of an extreme Brexit deal and the two-child cap on tax credits, to name but two.

At the same time, questions must be asked about whether a deal with Arlene Foster’s party will mean that Scottish Tories will be prepared to vote for a better financial deal for the Northern Ireland Assembly than they will for our own Scottish Parliament?

When Scottish Tory MPs start to troop through the lobbies of the House of Commons with their new intolerant friends on the far-right, we’ll really see what stuff each are made of.

The cracks are already starting to show in the Tory veneer. For example, in Clackmannanshire the backbone of the Tory campaign was a man with convictions for domestic abuse and a history of racism, while a Tory councillor from Stirling who was supposedly suspended from the party for racist comments online was also actively involved in the General Election there. With issues of equality and intolerance back at the top of the political agenda there will be nowhere left to hide for Ruth Davidson’s unsavoury supporters.

At the same time, the range of objections raised against DUP policy ahead of cross-party talks were limited to say the least. I agree that LGBTI issues are of course vitally important, but no less so than women’s rights, reproductive rights and the need to secure the best possible deal from the Brexit process. The fact that so little has been made by Scottish Conservatives on the likely impact of any kind of parliamentary deal on the Northern Ireland peace process is simply a dereliction of their democratic duty. It’s vital to the ongoing safety and security of people there that the UK Government remains a neutral player, but this seems to have been an afterthought to the political expediency required as a consequence of Theresa May’s disastrous electoral judgement.

The SNP needs to listen and learn the many lessons of last week’s events, hearing what Scotland’s voters have to say on many issues brought up on the doorsteps across the country.

As Scotland’s largest party, we must ensure our opponents don’t successfully seize the political initiative when their story is already beginning to unravel. Instead, we dust ourselves off and continue with the job of standing up for Scotland. That’s what almost a million Scots voted for last week, and that’s what we will do.