A return of anything less than 56 of Scotland’s 59 MPs will prove the SNP has run out of steam, the Scottish Secretary has claimed.
David Mundell said the test for Nicola Sturgeon in June’s general election will be whether her party can match its 2015 performance.
He also talked up his party’s prospects and described the Conservatives as the “challengers to the SNP”.
In an interview with The Courier, Mr Mundell refused to make predictions on seat numbers but said: “I think particularly in the north-east there is real scope for the Conservatives to make progress building on the fantastic result we had in the Scottish Parliament election.
“The test for Nicola Sturgeon is does she return 56 MPs? Does she achieve 50% of the vote? Does she achieve 1.5 million votes? That’s what she did in 2015.
“In my view any diminution on any of those numbers actually demonstrates that the momentum is not with those campaigning to have another independence referendum.
“Reduced representation at Westminster is not a mandate to have another independence referendum. The constitutional issue is suffocating Scottish politics and important other issues are just being crowded out by the SNP’s obsession.”
Mr Mundell, who represents Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale, is currently Scotland’s only Conservative MP but polls over the weekend suggested the Tories could win eight to 12 seats on June 8.
An SNP spokesman said: “This is a ridiculous suggestion from David Mundell, who is clearly getting his excuses in early for losing.
“Only the SNP will stand up for Scotland’s interests at Westminster.
“There is already a cast-iron democratic mandate, backed by a vote of the Scottish Parliament, for Scotland to be given a choice on its future.
“The challenge for the Tories is, if they lose the election in Scotland, will they stop blocking a referendum?”
