Douglas Ross will appeal to voters for their help to unseat SNP MPs during a campaign visit in the North East of Scotland early on Friday afternoon.
The Scottish Conservative leader will say voters have the opportunity to judge the SNP for the Michael Matheson scandal and for not giving the North East its fair share.
Ahead of votes in the Scottish Parliament on Michael Matheson’s position as an MSP and the sanctions he faces, Douglas Ross stepped up the pressure on John Swinney to U-turn and sack the disgraced former health secretary.
He revealed that Scottish Conservative candidates have started local campaigns on the scandal and they are writing to SNP candidates demanding answers on their position.
Joining Douglas Ross on the campaign visit on Friday is Scottish Conservative candidate Harriet Cross, who is standing against current SNP MP for Gordon, Richard Thomson.
The Scottish Conservative leader said the SNP’s stance on oil and gas had “damaged” the energy sector and nationalist MPs had “betrayed” local people by allowing the SNP Government to introduce a presumption against new North Sea developments.
Scottish Conservative leader Douglas Ross said: “The SNP must sack Michael Matheson from the party and U-turn on their pathetic attempt to overturn the sanctions he faces for misusing taxpayers’ money and lying to the press, public and Scottish Parliament. In any other line of work, Michael Matheson would have already lost his job.
“John Swinney’s shameful defence of the disgraced former health secretary has left his nationalist candidates in a dreadful position on day one of this campaign.
“The Scottish Conservatives will be demanding to know where SNP politicians stand on this scandal on behalf of the public, who are rightly furious at how Michael Matheson has acted.
“The SNP are already on the back foot but we won’t get complacent. They’re down, but we won't stop until we get them out. If voters in key seats back the Scottish Conservatives, we can do it.”
Appealing to North East voters, Douglas Ross will say: “This election in Scotland is a huge opportunity to beat the SNP so they finally have to forget about independence and focus on the top priorities of people in the North East.
“The SNP are opposed to new oil and gas developments, which is putting local jobs at risk.
“While the Scottish Conservatives are out speaking to people in the North East about the issues that matter to them, the nationalists will be mostly in the central belt talking about independence.
“This is the choice facing North East voters at this election: a strong local Scottish Conservative candidate who will focus on their priorities or an SNP candidate obsessed with independence.”
Scottish Conservative candidate for Gordon and Buchan, Harriet Cross, said: “The SNP Government has never given the North East our fair share of funding or support and nationalist MPs do nothing about it.
“On July 4th, I will be asking voters to back my positive pledges to improve our roads, reduce NHS waiting times, support farmers, create good jobs and deliver more support for our North Sea sector.”