THE Scottish Conservatives have put Nicola Sturgeon at the heart of their final election drive in the belief her personal unpopularity will sway tactical voters.

The Tories today unveiled a new poster using a picture of the First Minister and the slogan: “She’s had her say, now have yours.. This Thursday stop Indyref2”.

The party’s press statement tellingly failed to mention Boris Johnson or Brexit given the unpopularity of them both north of the border.

Instead, Scottish leader Jackson Carlaw urged Unionist campaigners to “come together” in marginal seats and lend the Tories their vote.

It coincides with the First Minister saying she would still want to hold Indyref2 next year even if there was a Remain vote in a second Brexit referendum first.

Ms Sturgeon has said that if there is another hung parliament she would want both votes next year in return for supporting Jeremy Corbyn as Prime Minister.

On BBC Radio Scotland, Ms Sturgeon accepted that a Brexit referendum would come first in such a scenario, as Labour has promised one within six months, whereas she has said she wants Indyref2 within 12 months.

She said: “It looks as if the EU one would come first and then an independence referendum towards the end of next year. That's the sequencing.

"In terms of the priority, in order of importance if you like, I want the whole UK to get the opportunity to escape Brexit, but of course an EU referendum doesn't guarantee that Scotland escapes Brexit, we could have the same result we had in 2016.

“This election won't decide independence, but it does help to determine whether Boris Johnson decides our future or the people of Scotland do so."

The SNP’s Holyrood manifesto for 2016 said there should be another independence vote if there was “a significant and material change in the circumstances that prevailed in 2014”, when Scotland 55-45 to stay in the UK.

As an example, it added: “such as Scotland being taken out of the EU against our will”.

Asked if a Remain vote in a second EU referendum would get rid of that significant and material change, Ms Sturgeon said: “No. My manifesto in 2016 said a material change of circumstances such as, for example, Brexit.”

Pressed about that material change disappearing, she said: “No. I don't accept that.

“Because the material change is, yes, the prospect of Scotland being taken out of the EU, but also the contemptuous way which Scotland has been treated with our interests, our voice, our views, completely ignored."

When it was put to her she had been saying Westminster treats Scotland contemptuously for decades, she said: “Indeed. But I think we’ve seen that in spades over the past three years. I’m being very clear in this election. I think it’s right for Scotland to have a choice over its own future.”

Unveiling his party’s new poster on an Advan in Tory-held East Renfrewshire, Mr Carlaw said: “Nicola Sturgeon has had her say during this election campaign.

“She’s said she’d prop up Jeremy Corbyn in Number Ten, despite his unsuitability for the job. She’s made clear she’ll demand a second independence referendum as early as Friday.

“She has said she wants to hold that referendum next year, dragging us back to yet more division.

“She has had her say, on Thursday we can have ours.”

“We can say no to a second independence referendum, we can say no to more division, and we can make Nicola Sturgeon listen for once.”

“In 2017, people came together and backed the Scottish Conservatives. It hit the SNP hard and, as a result, we forced Nicola Sturgeon to put Indyref2 on hold. We need to tell her again and halt the Nationalists in their tracks.”