Douglas Ross has admitted that he is worried about a lack of enthusiasm from the electorate.

Speaking at the launch of his party’s general election campaign, the Scottish Tory leader urged his voters not to stay at home. 

“We know that on polling day that the SNP will be able to turn out their supporters, they have managed it in election after election,” he said.

“If you stay at home then you risk letting them win by the slimmest of margins and using that win as a mandate to campaign for independence.

“If you want the SNP out, then you need to vote the SNP out.”

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The address to candidates, activists and party members gathered in Perth focused heavily on what he said was the “failure of 17 years of SNP Government.”

There was no mention of national service, or the pension triple lock plus, the two major policies already announced so far by the Conservatives.

Nor was there any mention of Sir Keir Starmer or the prospect of a Labour government.

Asked if he was distancing himself from Rishi Sunak’s poorly received campaign, Mr Ross said he was focusing on the issues that come up on the doorstep.

Asked if he was running scared of the Prime Minister’s record, he replied: “Absolutely not.”

“The Prime Minister was in Scotland within 24 hours of calling the election,” he said. “I was with him up in Nigg. He'll be back here during the election campaign.

“But we also have an opportunity - and this is an opportunity that I think voters have cottoned on to - that in key seats up and down country we can beat the SNP by uniting behind the Scottish Conservatives.”

He said if voters did that then they could deliver “one of the worst for the nationalists in a decade.”

The Scottish Tory leader saved most of his criticism for Michael Matheson, the ex-health secretary who looks set to be suspended from Holyrood over his £11k data roaming bill.

“In any other workplace he would have been sacked for fiddling expenses and then lying multiple times to cover it up,” he said.

“Even in the UK Parliament, he would now be facing a recall petition that he would without a doubt have lost.”

He was scathing of John Swinney’s decision to question the Standards Committee. The First Minister said the process had been “prejudiced” against Mr Matheson because of comments made by one of the Tory MSPs on the cross-party group.

“Honest John was acting as a dishonest broker – not working for the Scottish people but to discredit the Scottish Parliament and get Michael Matheson’s punishment reduced.

“If this had happened at Westminster, if a Conservative, Labour or Liberal Democrat MP had been found to have done the same, then John Swinney would rightly have said they should go.

“But because it is one of his mates at Holyrood there is nothing to see here. That is naked hypocrisy.

“For years the SNP have promoted themselves as being better than Westminster politics.

“They believe that they can say anything, do anything, fail everyone and get away with it.

“That so long as they turn out the independence diehards in election after election that they can win.

“And so they continue to prioritise their nationalist obsession before everything else.

“And John Swinney is just the latest incarnation of this thinking.”

Asked if he was worried about voters staying away, Mr Ross said apathy could be an issue for all parties.

“We are seeing in the opinion polls that one of the things that people have decided at the moment is they are waiting for this reason to come behind the various political parties.

“It's very clear here in Scotland we are we are giving people a reason to unite behind the Scottish conservatives because we condemn the decade of division by nationalists.”

Mr Ross was also challenged on his criticism of Mr Matheson given Boris Johnson’s rule breaking.

"Boris Johnson is no longer a member of any Parliament,” Mr Ross said. “Michael Matheson is shamefully still a member of not just the Scottish Parliament but the SNP.

“In any other line of work he would have been sacked by he's not even been suspended by the SNP.

“And John Swinney has decided at the start of the general election that he thinks the right approach is to fully support and endorse a liar who tried to claim taxpayers money for an iPad roaming bill that clearly was not generated as a result of parliamentary expenses.”

Scottish Labour Deputy Leader Jackie Baillie said: “This Tory government has been a disaster for Scotland and a gift to the SNP – the idea that they have anything to offer the people of Scotland is laughable.

“From Boris Johnson to Liz Truss to Rishi Sunak, the Tories have continually trashed our economy, degraded our politics and provided cover for the SNP’s failures.

“Only one party can put an end to the division and chaos of the SNP and the Tories and that is Scottish Labour.

“This election is an opportunity for change that we cannot afford to miss.

“Labour can boot out the Tories, put the SNP on notice and deliver the change that Scotland needs – lower bills, higher wages, a stronger economy and renewed public services.”

Ahead of the Tories’ launch, SNP MP and candidate for Perth and Kinross-Shire, Mr Wishart, said: “We need to get rid of the Tory Government. The way to do that in Scotland is to vote SNP, because we are the main challengers in every Tory-held seat.

“Westminster has inflicted austerity, Brexit and a cost-of-living crisis on Scotland – these decisions have pushed up household costs, hit the economy hard and cut the money available to spend on the NHS.

“The SNP in government has shown how the best decisions are those made in Scotland, for Scotland – we have delivered the best performing A&E units in the UK for nine years, helped households struggling with Westminster’s cost-of-living crisis, and we are keeping 100,000 children out of poverty through the Scottish Child Payment.

“At the General Election, vote for the SNP and unite Scotland for a future where all of the decisions about Scotland are made in Scotland, for Scotland.”