To Scotland now where the Tories are embroiled in an embarrassing row with one of their own local election candidates over whether he agreed to stand.

Thomas Williamson will be on the ballot paper when voters in the Shetland Island’s Lerwick North ward vote for their councillors on May 4.

But, the man knows locally as “Skerries Tom”, has told the Shetland Times that he never agreed to be a Tory candidate – and asked residents not to vote him.

Priceless in @shetlandtimes – Tory candidate says 'buggers doon sooth' forced him to stand in council election. 'Don't vote for me!' pic.twitter.com/kuQ1T5LaI8 — Tom Morton (@thebeatcroft) April 21, 2017

He said he had received a phone call from some “buggers doon sooth” – a Tory official asking whether he would stand as a paper candidate in order to boost their national vote share. A tactic that the local paper said hadn’t been employed on the islands by parties before.

Williamson said the conversation was obscured by a “crackling line” and that he had been cut off, only discovering that he was a candidate when the official notice of poll was published.

He described his candidacy as a “cock up”. The Tories insist that he signed the paper needed to be a candidate.

We’d heard the Tories were unpopular in Scotland, but we didn’t realise it was this tough for them to find willing candidates…