Douglas Ross has said he has no sympathy for Nicola Sturgeon despite her troubles since leaving office.

He also told delegates at the Scottish Tory conference that the former first minister blanked him when the two of them were alone in Holyrood one morning.

Speaking at an “in conversation” event with Holyrood magazine editor, Mandy Rhodes, he said: “I know some people criticise me for not being effusive with my praise when she stood down but I never had in any way a relationship with Nicola Sturgeon.

“We never spoke outside the chamber. We didn't have that in any way political friendship that I know other people had with her from a variety of different parties."

He said he was "always a bit suspicious" about Ms Sturgeon. 

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Ms Rhodes then told the Scottish Tory chief that Anas Sarwar had expressed sympathy for the Glasgow Southside MSP and that the two had said hello to each other while passing on the Royal Mile

Mr Ross said he found it “interesting” that Ms Sturgeon had said hello to the Scottish Labour leader.

“Very early on a Thursday morning, I always go to Kirsty's coffee kiosk in Parliament and get a coffee and I was in there really early one morning and Nicola was stood next to me.

“And it's taking three or four minutes to make this coffee, and I am to blame for this too, but neither of us said a word.

“The only two people there, Kirsty busy making the coffee and we didn't even say hello to each other.

“So she's clearly got a better relationship with Anas than me.”

Mr Ross also said Humza Yousaf needed to be a "lot more careful with the language he uses and what he shares and retweets."

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He criticised the First Minister for calling for Scotland to be Tory free.

"Well, that's not going to happen. We've made that very clear. And hopefully, we continue to make Scotland well represented north, south, east and west of the country at the general election this year.

"But even if that were to happen at any point, just by not having Conservative MPs doesn't mean Scotland is Tory free. Hundreds of thousands of people across Scotland, voted Conservative.

"And what they're hearing from their First Minister, who I remember being in the chamber at the time, promising to stand up for and represent the whole country is a divisive argument that their view doesn't count because they happen to support a different political party and a different view for the future of our country."

Asked if he thought this year's election would be like the 1992 election or the 1997 election for the Tories, Mr Ross said the situation would be different in Scotland. 

"I think there's still a bit of catch up to be done particularly with London based media, that we will have a very different election here in Scotland.

"It's going to be a fascinating election. It's one I'm looking forward to, getting out and about with all my candidates. Getting out and about, meeting people, knocking on doors, and having those discussions."

"There's a lot to be positive about in the Scottish Conservatives," he added. "We will be fighting to retain the seats we've got and win more. I think we can have a good night on election night." 

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The comments follow a new poll which suggested the Tories had fallen to their worst level of support in Scotland since Liz Truss was leader.

Survation showed the SNP was on 38%, while Labour was on 33% and the Tories down on 15%.