Kemi Badenoch voices hope for Tory first minister in Scotland after May election

Kemi Badenoch has said she wants to see the Scottish Conservative leader become Scotland’s next first minister – as she insisted their party is the only one to stand up for the United Kingdom.

The Tories will “stand for the Union”, Mrs Badenoch declared, as she addressed supporters in Edinburgh ahead of next month’s Holyrood election.

Scottish First Minister and SNP leader John Swinney has already vowed that he will push for a second vote on independence if his party wins an overall majority in three weeks’ time.

Mrs Badenoch said she hopes Scottish Tory leader Russell Findlay will instead become first minister after May 7.

She hailed Mr Findlay as being “better and braver”, adding he “stands up to the SNP nonsense day in and day out”.

Reaching out to voters from other parties, she said people who want to keep Scotland together should back her the Tories “whether you are a Conservative or not”.

Mrs Badenoch’s address came as Reform UK leader Nigel Farage suggested a second independence referendum would be “quite reasonable” if the issue becomes “relevant” in future.

She said the Tories are “fighting for Scotland”, and told party activists: “You are the only opposition to the left, separatist stranglehold.”

Hitting out at the SNP, she said “all they care about is a referendum”, adding: “Now we have Reform paving the way so that the SNP can do that.

“We stand against that, we stand for the Union.

“The Conservative Party is the Conservative and Unionist Party.”

Turning on other parties running for Holyrood, Mrs Badenoch said: “Reform and the Greens think that this is just a game, the Lib Dems, I don’t think they even know why they are there.

“But we know why we are here, we know we have to fight for a better life for Scotland and its people every single day, we have to fight for a better life for everyone in the United Kingdom, and we need to keep our Union together.”

She insisted it is “absolutely critical” to maintain Conservative representation in the Scottish Parliament, adding: “No-one else is fighting for lower taxes, no-one else is fighting to get people into work and off welfare.”

With Scotland’s benefits bill forecast to rise from £7.4 billion this year to £9.2 billion by 2030-31, according to independent experts at the Scottish Fiscal Commission, Mrs Badenoch added: “Welfare is drowning Scotland, the rider is getting heavier than the horse, fewer and fewer people are having to work harder.

“We need to make sure our welfare system looks after those who are most vulnerable, but it cannot become a lifestyle choice.”