Regional ballot is the 'secret weapon' to defeat SNP - Findlay

Voting Scottish Conservative on the regional list in the upcoming Holyrood elections is the "secret weapon" to remove the SNP from power, says leader Russell Findlay.

He told his party's conference in Edinburgh that casting a ballot for the Conservatives on 7 May was the "smart way" to stop John Swinney from returning to Bute House as first minister.

In a keynote speech at Murrayfield on Saturday, Findlay said Tory votes would prevent the SNP from gaining a majority at the Scottish Parliament.

Swinney previously said majority for his party at Holyrood was the only way to ensure a second independence referendum.

But Findlay warned that without a strong Scottish Conservative voice, the parliament would "keep turning its back on swathes of the country it's supposed to serve".

He also pledged to turn the Scottish government's annual underspend into a yearly rebate for each taxpayer.

Based on last year's surplus, Findlay said this would give each council taxpayer about £200.

Usually this money would instead go into the following year's budget.

The Tory leader told the conference: "In this election, we are going to fight for the people who do the right thing, but who feel they're getting nowhere.

"On 7 May, the second of your two votes - the peach ballot paper - is your secret weapon. It is the smart way to stop the SNP across the country.

"To stop John Swinney from winning a majority he says will lead to a referendum.

"To stop the SNP-Green horror show of Bute House 2.

"To stop the phoney unionists of Reform helping the SNP get back in."

Findlay said the SNP was "weak" and "dishonest" told delegates that "people are disillusioned" by politics.

However he stressed that Reform UK were "not the answer" and added: "They have no core values or fixed principles."

Findlay warned that the SNP's return to government would mean "trapping us on the same downward spiral of higher taxes, higher benefits, low growth, declining public services".

The West of Scotland MSP added: "Neither Labour nor the Lib Dems will oppose [the SNP] - they're just too weak.

"They've failed before and they'll keep failing - they're part of the problem. That leaves us. The Scottish Conservatives are the voice of common sense.

"We are the voice for ordinary, decent, hard-working Scots who dread five more years of the same."

Ahead of the May election, the Tories have called for an end to minimum alcohol unit pricing as well as the closure of the safer drugs consumption room in Glasgow.

The party has also pledged to repeal SNP legislation on the early release of prisoners.

In education, they have called for headteachers, rather than councils, to be given the power to permanently exclude pupils.

Findlay said they would scrap the SNP's "failing" Curriculum for Excellence and replace it with a "knowledge-based Curriculum for Aspiration" and ban phones from the classroom.

They want schools to be allowed to opt out of council control - highlighting the success of the high-performing Jordanhill School in Glasgow.

They party also hopes to see an end to low-emissions zones and a review of current ones in place, and the creation of a new national pothole fund.

In January, Findlay proposed a two-child cap on the country's flagship child benefit.

He claimed that the Scottish Child Payment - claimed weekly by families on certain benefits - was disincentivising some recipients from working.

Findlay previously told BBC Scotland News that while his party supported welfare for "those in need", the benefits bill was "out of control".

"Benefits should be a safety net, not a lifestyle choice," he added.