Tories snatch a council seat in the poorest part of Scotland

'Under Theresa May, there are no 'no-go' areas for the Conservatives'

Ruth Davidson's Conservatives have prospered from the party's strong anti-independence stance

(PA)

A Conservative councillor has snatched a seat covering the poorest part of Scotland, as the Tories’ successful march on opposition turf continued.

John McIntyre was elected to a ward in Paisley, west of Glasgow, where Ferguslie Park has twice topped Scotland’s deprivation list, reportedly the first ever Conservative win in the area.

The Tories were also reported to have won a seat in a Glasgow ward where life expectancy was once calculated to be lower than in Iraq.

Sam Gyimah, a Conservative minister in London, said: “The key thing that is emerging, not just from the Scottish results, but in England and Wales, is under Theresa May, there are no 'no-go' areas for the Conservatives.”

Every four years, statisticians rate almost 7,000 areas in Scotland by standards including income, employability and health.

Last August, they again rated Ferguslie Park as the least deprived, an estate which became known for drug use and crime in the 1990s.

Local leaders blamed huge cuts in local government funding from the Holyrood Parliament for the area’s continued troubles.

Early results from Scotland suggested Ruth Davidson’s Conservatives are on course to cement their status as the leading Unionist party across Scotland – taking seats from Scottish Labour.