Alexander Burnett today joined with leader Ruth Davidson today in responding to Lord Ashcroft's poll of selected Scottish constituencies in pointing out that now, only the Scottish Conservatives can stop the SNP.

Although West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine was not polled by Lord Ashcroft, his extensive poll of 16 seats across Scotland confirmed that LibDem support across Scotland has collapsed. Only 12% of the LibDems 2010 supporters are planning to vote for the party next year.

Alexander said, 'Despite the fact that our constituency was not polled, this confirms what we have been saying for the past few months- that the Lib Dems have now collapsed as a political force in Scotland. They are too weak to take on the SNP. In West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine, only the Scottish Conservatives can stop the Nats from taking the seat.'

“The only pro-UK party with the strength and leadership to challenge the Nationalists is the Scottish Conservative party.”

Ruth Davidson, leader of the Scottish Conservative Party said, “We now know why Ed Miliband won’t rule out a coalition pact with the SNP. He’s toxic in Scotland and he knows he’ll need Nationalist support to get him into Downing Street.”

“It’s increasingly clear that we face a choice between the security and leadership of the Scottish Conservatives, and the total chaos of a weakened Labour party which staggers over the line thanks to SNP back room deals.”

“The poll shows that nearly nine out of ten Scots who voted LibDem in 2010 have simply deserted the party. It means that, across Scotland, the LibDems don’t have the strength to keep out the SNP.”

“Our message from this poll is simple. If you want a pro-UK party which can take on the SNP and keep Ed Miliband out of Number Ten, then you have to vote Scottish Conservative. And in West Aberdeenshire, that means voting for our superb local champion, Alexander Burnett'