LONDON (AP) – With Thursday’s referendum looming, proponents of Scottish independence are using one of the main weapons in their armory – Scotland’s widespread mistrust of the Conservative Party.
The Conservatives, also known as Tories, have been in power in the United Kingdom more often than not since the end of World War I. For a while, Scotland was even a bedrock of support – in the 1955 general election the Conservatives won half the vote and seats in Scotland.
By 1997, when Tony Blair led the Labour Party back to power after 18 years in opposition, the Conservatives were wiped out in Scotland. In the last election in 2010, which resulted in a Tory-led government across the U.K., the Conservatives claimed one seat out of 59 in Scotland.
The party’s unpopularity in Scotland is now so great that it could prove to be the swing factor in this week’s Scottish vote over the future of the union with England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
While Conservative Prime Minister David Cameron has urged Scots not to use the referendum to give the “effing Tories” a kicking, the Yes campaign is trying to tap into that desire. “A Yes means Scotland’s future in the hands of people who live here – so no more Tory governments we didn’t vote for,” Scotland’s First Minister Alex Salmond said.