Nicola Sturgeon says she feels “optimistic” about the SNP’s chances of winning control of Perth and Kinross Council after an outpouring of public anger over partygate.
The first minister insisted the SNP can make an “optimistic difference” across Tayside as she launched her party’s campaign bus in Dundee on Friday.
She also took aim at scandal-hit Conservative councillors in Angus exposed as running online troll accounts as she called on voters to send a message to the Tories.
The SNP bus left Dundee with Ms Sturgeon on board bound for South Inch in Perth – an area covered by a local authority currently run by the Conservatives.
But the Tories have been rocked by revelations of lockdown busting parties in Downing Street, with Boris Johnson, his wife Carrie and chancellor Rishi Sunak all being issued with fixed penalty notices by police.
Speaking exclusively to The Courier on board the SNP battle bus, Ms Sturgeon spoke about her parties chances of taking control of Perth and Kinross Council.
“I am optimistic but I don’t take any election for granted,” she said.
“I am wary of expressing too much confidence but I do think we have a good chance this time.
“People across Perth are as angry as anyone else about what we have seen in recent times with a Tory prime minister who is presiding over a culture of law-breaking, refusing to accept the consequences and has shameful excuses like the horrors of Ukraine to justify his own occupancy of Number 10.
“The people of Perth will want to send a message about that and kick the Tories out of the council administration.”
Meanwhile, Conservative councillors in Angus have come under fire after being exposed as online trolls.
We revealed previously how an anonymous anti-SNP account bearing the pseudonym ‘Lady Whistledown’ was being run by senior Tory councillor Derek Wann.
Ms Sturgeon said scandals like these show the kind of behaviour opposition parties are willing to accept.
She said: “I want to campaign on a positive agenda and have SNP councillors who stand up for their local services.
“This is an opportunity to send a message to the Tories on the cost of living and the behaviour of the prime minister.
“The [Lady Whistledown] scandal throws light on the conduct of opposition parties and people take a very dim view of that.”
We asked if the SNP leader would accept her councillors forming coalitions with any other party on Angus Council.
Ms Sturgeon said: “We will not do deals with the Tories but we will fight to win as many votes as possible.
“But aside from the Tories we will always seek to work in the best interests of the local communities and I trust council groups across the country to take the right decisions, should they require to be taken.”
The SNP’s campaign bus will embark on a three-week long tour of Scotland highlighting the cost of living crisis ahead of the council elections on May 5.
Candidates hoping to be elected to Dundee City Council posed for photographs with the first minister before waving her off .
Ms Sturgeon spoke of the importance of having a strong showing of support for the current SNP-led administration in the city.
She rejected criticism of the levels of deprivation in Dundee following more than a decade of the SNP being in charge locally.
‘Dundee is a city on the up’
“I think the SNP is already making a positive difference to Dundee,” Ms Sturgeon said.
“Dundee, in spite of all its challenges, is a city on the up.
“The level of employment has increased significantly in the last few years and the regeneration is fantastic.
“We need to build on that ambition of recent years because it is a city heading in the right direction.
“There are still long-standing challenges that need to be addressed, but that is why it is important to have strong, ambitious leadership.”