ALEX Salmond has accused the Conservatives of making “presumptuous announcements” and “vainglorious boasts” by suggesting they could defeat him at the General Election.

Launching his re-election campaign in Ellon yesterday, the former First Minister forecast the Tories would come “down to earth with a sharp bump” in the Gordon constituency.

The Tories finished third in Gordon in 2015, and need a huge 18 per cent swing for victory.

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However they out-polled the SNP in the seat in last week’s local election, prompting Tory leader Ruth Davidson to visit on Saturday.

She said: "We won the local government election is Gordon this week, beating the SNP into second place. It means that in this seat it is a two-horse race between us and the Nationalists.”

Mr Salmond admitted Tory support was up, but said that would only boost the SNP.

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He said: “There's no question the Tory vote is on the increase and therefore we have to galvanise the SNP support.

“The Tories are helping us in their rather presumptuous announcements that they're going to win the seat. I have to say I'm delighted, the effect is to galvanise the SNP support."

He also pointed out the SNP had won 11 councillors to the Tories’ nine last Thursday.

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Mr Salmond went on: “I've never taken any election battle for granted. I've represented the Northeast of Scotland for 30 years and every election the Tories tell me they are going to beat me and every time they fall short.

"Also in the Northeast of Scotland it's not the greatest thing to boast you're going to win beforehand. The folk here tend to bring them back down to earth with a bump

"And that I think will happen to the Tories. Boasting before an election is an extremely foolish thing to do. The people have their say at the ballot box. The Northeast of Scotland has a way of bringing people who make vainglorious boasts down to earth with a sharp bump."

Mr Salmond won 47.7 per cent of the vote in 2015, the LibDems 32.7 and the Tories 11.7.

Colin Clark, who came 20,910 votes behind Mr Salmond, is again the Tory candidate.

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But Christine Jardine, who had a high local profile as the LibDem candidate in 2015, is now fighting Edinburgh West, meaning more LibDems in Gordon may opt to vote tactically.

Mr Clark, who has been highlighting problems with SNP farm payments in the rural seat, said: “The Scottish Conservatives beat the SNP in Gordon last week. That is not a boast, it's a fact.

"As in the rest of Scotland, people in Gordon have had enough of the SNP using their platform to take us back to a second referendum.”

Former SNP minister Kenneth MacAskill told the BBC the SNP had clearly won the local elections, but warned: “There were areas where they know themselves they underperformed and they need to look to their laurels with the general election coming.”

Elsewhere on the campaign trail, Scottish LibDem leader Willie Rennie said the SNP was suffering from “the biggest change in public opinion since 2014” after they “insulted” voters.

He told his party’s council group in Perth: “In 2015 Nicola Sturgeon paraded across the country promising that a vote for the SNP was not a vote for independence.

“Now they are angry that the SNP has campaigned for independence ever since.

“That is one of the big reasons the SNP are losing votes. In just two years they have insulted and angered the very voters that helped them secure that election result.

"The big question for these voters is how they express their anger and frustration. Voters can back us to send a real champion to Westminster instead of a cheerleader for independence."

In Edinburgh South, Labour’s Ian Murray said the local elections, with the SNP roughly static on councillor numbers although the largest party in over half of local authorities, showed the “Sturgeon surge” was over.

He said voters were “fed up with the prospect of a divisive second independence referendum”.

He said: “The SNP failed to win a single majority on any council. This is a party which two years ago got 50 per cent of the Scottish vote. Even areas that voted Yes in 2014 are now saying No Thanks to a divisive second independence referendum.

“Scotland needs Labour MPs who will fight for jobs and investment, not Tory MPs who want a blank cheque for a hard Brexit or SNP MPs who will only fight for a second referendum.”