Ross Thomson says things are looking “really good” for the Tories as they pick up council seats across the north of Scotland.
The party has seen a surge of votes as Labour suffer significant losses and the North East Scotland MSP believes the turnout shows a clear resistance to a second independence referendum.
He said: “We’re picking up seats which we haven’t held before. Already in the city we’ve made a number of gains, which is really encouraging.
“As we all know, this is a barometer going into the General Election and the results are showing quite clearly that not only in Aberdeen but across the north-east, there is only one party to take on the SNP and that’s the Scottish Conservatives.
The Tories have made gains in areas not typically seen as strongholds for the party such as Fraserburgh and Peterhead.
Mr Thomson says the performance has come on the back of Tory activists driving home a message that the party will “stand up” to the SNP and oppose independence.
He added: “If you do not want another independence referendum and go through the division of that again, you can only send a message to Nicola Sturgeon by voting for the Scottish Conservatives.
“That’s why across the north-east you’re seeing more seats being picked up.”
