Scottish Tory leader Jackson Carlaw has admitted he was “disappointed” that his party lost seven seats north of the border as he attempted to put a brave face on the result.
Mr Carlaw said the fact that Tories went from 13 seats to six was “a disappointment to us”.
Among the seven scalps taken by the SNP were Colin Clark in Gordon and Kirstene Hair in Angus.
Aberdeen City Council co-leader Douglas Lumsden failed to hang on to Aberdeen South for the Conservatives following the departure of Ross Thomson.
After Labour’s disastrous election, Mr Carlaw said the result had “cemented” the Conservatives’ position as Scotland’s main opposition party.
“Winning nearly 700,000 votes across the country is a fantastic achievement,” Mr Carlaw said.
“Unlike Labour, we have largely maintained our share of the vote – with our second best showing since 1992.”
He also claimed Boris Johnson’s UK victory was “good news” for Scotland. But senior Scottish Tory insiders admitted that Mr Johnson had proved a turn-off to Scottish voters.
“We had a Boris problem,” said one senior Scottish Conservative. “He does put some people off from voting for us so we have to consider how we address that. “
As interim leader Mr Carlaw has said he intends to stand to become permanent leader of the Scottish party when the leadership contest to replace Ruth Davidson is finally held.
At a press conference in Glasgow, Mr Carlaw was asked if the result had changed his thoughts on the leadership.
Mr Carlaw said he believed he had brought “clarity and focus” to the campaign.
“I believe there is more that I can offer the Scottish Conservatives going forward but that’s not the immediate discussion we need to have,” Mr Carlaw said.
“So I will reflect on this result with colleagues and we will come to a determination about that leadership contest when the management board sets the timetable.”
Although the Tories lost Gordon and Aberdeen South in the north-east, there was some comfort in that Douglas Ross managed to hold on to Moray, David Duguid retained Banff and Buchan and Andrew Bowie narrowly won in West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine.
Labour’s dismal election north of the border resulted in the party losing six of its seven Scottish seats.
The Shadow Scottish Secretary Lesley Laird was one of the defeated candidates, losing Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath, a seat that was once held by former Prime Minister Gordon Brown with a whopping majority.
Ms Laird was beaten even though the victor Neale Hanvey was suspended by the SNP during the campaign for using anti-Semitic language.
Labour’s only survivor was Ian Murray in Edinburgh South, who launched a devastating critique of Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership.
But the result could also put pressure on the party’s Scottish leader Richard Leonard. Mr Leonard said the party had to look at its neutral stance on Brexit and how it dealt with the Scottish constitutional question.
Despite question marks over his leadership, Labour insiders last night suggested he would continue in post.
But with Scottish Labour having gone through six leaders and caretaker leaders since 2011, the lack of an obvious candidate to replace him was cited as a factor that could help him maintain his position.
