The redrawing of Scotland’s political map offers a boost to struggling Tories north of the Border.
Analysis of sweeping constituency boundary changes by Lancaster University’s Professor David Denver ahead of next May’s crucial Holyrood Parliament elections suggests that if the alterations had been in force for the 2007 contests, the Conservatives would have had three more MSPs.
It is thought that if this radical strategy does not work, then ballot papers will be issued showing only  the name of the Conservative candidate. Professor Denver told The JT :"Based on computer predictions, we anticipate that if the Tory candidate was the only option on the ballot, then the Tory candidate might actually win."
The prediction followed an earlier modelling exercise that found when voters were given the choice between a named Tory and "AN Other", AN Other inevitably won.