Scottish Conservatives will hold on to second place - Douglas Ross

Douglas Ross is both a list MSP for the Highlands and Islands as well as MP for Moray

Scottish Conservative leader Douglas Ross says he is confident his party will retain second place in next week's Scottish council elections.

In 2017 the party won 276 seats, compared to the SNP's 431, and finished 14 seats ahead of Scottish Labour.

Mr Ross rejected polls which have indicated they could finish third, saying: "I don't think we will".

Speaking to BBC Radio's Good Morning Scotland, he also repeated his support for Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

Mr Ross said he was positive about the campaign and highlighted that the Conservatives were the only party standing a candidate in every mainland ward.

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"I think we will hold on to second place because the polls also said we would move to third place last year," he said.

"What actually happened is Labour went backwards again and they lost votes and seats.

"Whereas the Scottish Conservatives maintained our position as the second biggest party in Holyrood and we increased our vote, by over 100,000."

Mr Ross also discussed the cost of living crisis, and said it was having a "massive impact".

One of the party's manifesto pledges is to increase the single person council tax discount from 25% to 35%.

Mr Ross previously wrote to the 1922 committee calling for a leadership contest after saying Mr Johnson's position was untenable

He said giving a larger proportion of the Scottish government budget to councils would fund this pledge and other commitments - including extending the school day and investing in road improvements.

But Mr Ross was questioned about his party's desire to cut council tax, while the UK Conservatives had raised the government's tax take to the highest level since the 1940s.

Mr Ross said: "We have been through two years of a pandemic where the UK government stepped in and paid people's wages for a long time.

"They helped the self employed, they supported businesses, they kept the economy running during the pandemic and, therefore, that money has to be paid back at some point."

'Absolutely unacceptable'

The Scottish Conservative leader, whose wife is a police officer, also said he wanted a justice system that stands up for victims and that Police Scotland was not receiving enough government investment.

And Mr Ross, who is both an MP and MSP, was asked about his support for Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

In January he called for Mr Johnson to resign after he admitted attending a Downing Street party during lockdown.

But in March he withdrew his demand for a leadership contest and said it should be "put on pause while there is war in Europe".

Mr Ross told Good Morning Scotland: "I have said that the prime minister's actions were absolutely unacceptable.

"I make no qualms about that, and I understand and share the anger people have."

But he added: "I support the prime minister to lead the efforts to support the people of Ukraine, President Zelensky, and the ongoing conflict there."

"We are at a crucial stage and I think the only person that benefits from a change in prime minister in the UK, that has been so strong on sanctions, so strong on military support fort Ukraine, is Vladimir Putin."