ConservativeHome's Seats & Candidates blog

The candidates for the Tory target seats in Scotland emphasise that the election will be a choice between Brown and Cameron

Below is a well crafted video presented by the Scottish Tory leader Annabel Goldie which introduces us to the party's candidates in the eleven seats north of the border where the Conservatives are targeting resources at the general election.

David Mundell is, of course, the only sitting Conservative MP for a Scottish constituency, and Peter Duncan, also featured in the video and standing again in Dumfries and Galloway, held that accolade between 2001 and 2005.

Apart from showing off the beautiful constituencies which they all aspire to represent, they are very much pushing the message that the election is about more than just electing a local MP - more crucially it is about choosing which of two men becomes Prime Minister and that a vote for the SNP or the Lib Dems is therefore a wasted vote.

That message should be equally resonant in the battleground seats held by the Lib Dems south of the border.

Jonathan Isaby

Peter Lyburn's week as candidate for Perth and North Perthshire is dominated by the Scottish Conservative Conference coming to his constituency

Each week a different PPC provides us with an insight into life as a candidate and gives us a flavour of their own campaign and interests. If you are a candidate and are keen to be featured, please email Jonathan Isaby.

This week's diary is written by Peter Lyburn, candidate for Perth and North Perthshire, where the sitting MP is Pete Wishart of the Scottish National Party. Peter needs a swing to the Conservatives of 1.7% to overturn the SNP's 1,521 majority. Perthshire born and bred, he is a manager in an environmental consultancy and recycling business, and contested Dunfermline West at the 2007 Scottish Parliament election. You can read more about Peter on his website.

Monday 11th May

One of the benefits of living further north is the amazing number of daylight hours that we get. It is great when you get out of bed at 6am to have full rays of sun blazing in. This week ahead will be the busiest and dare I say it, one of the most important, in the first steps of my political journey. Scottish Conservative Party Conference is happening in my constituency, in the beautiful city of Perth.

This blog is read by peoples the full length and breadth of the UK and there has long been a myth peddled across the UK that we, as a party, struggle or are not relevant in Scotland. If you were working in the admissions team for conference I can assure you, you would not harbour that view for long. The conference hall will be packed to the rafters - something I am told has not happened since the charged days of Thatcher in our now abandoned City Halls.

On Saturday, I spent the day with my team putting up schoolchildren’s artwork behind the glass of empty shop units on Perth’s high street. It was an idea I had after a few people started complaining about the sorry looking units, especially the Woolies store. Anyway, this morning was spent putting the artwork back up after the ‘sticky glue’ turned out to be not so sticky. We abandoned the new advances made in adhesives and reverted to good old-fashioned blu-tac. That seems to have done the trick – hopefully!

The expenses row bubbles on. I heard a Tory MP on Radio 4 last week say, as a rule of thumb, you should only claim for items you would be happy to appear in your local press. I couldn’t agree more. My own opinion is that Westminster could learn a thing or two from the Scottish Parliament: a fully published, receipted system.

Peter Lyburn has been adopted for Perth and North Perthshire

Peter Lyburn has been adopted for one of Scotland's most marginal seats.  ToryBear has more.

Mr Lyburn, just 24, has been selected for Perth and North Perthshire.  The seat has a projected SNP majority of 1,521.  The PoliticsHome poll of marginals predicts an SNP hold.  PoliticsHome does, however, predict that the Conservatives should gain Dumfries and Galloway, Renfrewshire East and Edinburgh South.