THE number of people supporting Scottish Yes Tories, who are advocating Scottish Conservative 1 Alba 2 in the Holyrood election, appears to be on the rise thanks to the two Bs – Boris and Brexit.
We reported earlier this week that the group was urging voters to support Alex Salmond’s party on the list, primarily as a means of getting Scotland back into the European single market.
Some at Scottish Tory HQ, however, wondered if they were even party members.
At that time, Scottish Yes Tories said around 15% of their members had voted Yes in 2014, and they have seen steady growth since the Brexit poll, “when 75% of Ruth Davidson’s Edinburgh Central constituents voted Remain”.
They said on social media: “Our aim is to see Scotland have access to the European single market as soon as possible and that is why for this next election we are asking our party voters to vote Scottish Conservative 1 and Alba Party 2.
“Whereas the SNP policy is for full EU membership the Alba Party seems to support the EFTA [European Free Trade Association] and EEA [European Economic Area] membership first and that appears to be the fastest route to re-enter the European single market.
“Scottish exporters are hurting following Brexit and EEA membership would help repair that damage.”
Tory party members face instant expulsion for backing indy, but one told us support was rising, and added: “Ruth Davidson warned all party members that if any Scottish Conservative openly supported independence we would be thrown out of the party.”
A member of Scottish Yes Tories said: “In 2016 our group was about 18 party members. It grew as the news from the House of Commons developed over Brexit and when Boris became PM we saw a jump.
“As of January this year we were about 200 and now over 230.
“The 2500 followers on Twitter seem to be mostly either SNP or Yes supporters.
“Our Facebook page has about 160 followers but we do not promote Facebook.”
They added: “Our party doesn’t confirm how many members it has in Scotland.
“From the turnout at the last full conference in Aberdeen I would guess at about 2000.”
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