A FORMER Tory MSP has called on the three pro-Union parties at Holyrood to come together at the next election to defeat the SNP.

Adam Tomkins, who quit as an MSP at the May election, told the Daily Record that Scottish Labour, the Liberal Democrats and the Conservatives should field one candidate in constituency elections.

But an SNP spokesperson labelled the plans “desperate”, pointing to the fall of Scottish Labour after they joined the Unionist Better Together campaign, teaming up with the Tories in the process.

It comes after the SNP’s historic election victory in May in which the party fell one short of a majority.

READ MORE: SNP would gain 11 MPs and unseat Douglas Ross, new poll finds

The SNP have previously done well in constituency seats, which use a first-past-the-post voting system.

A recent poll for STV gave the party a 52% share in the constituency voting intentions while giving them 45% in the regional list vote.

Tomkins called for a change in Scottish politics as he urged the pro-UK parties to unite.

He said: “There needs to be a restructuring in Scottish politics that recognises the fact that the fundamental division is no longer Left-Right, it is Yes-No.”

He added: “The Yes side are united and the No side are divided, which is the only reason the SNP are still in power.”

The Glasgow University professor went on: “I am interested in a much more ambitious configuration of Scottish politics, and which I think is necessary to meet and eventually defeat the challenge of the SNP.

“You’ve got to have a single, unified, anti-SNP or pro-Union candidate standing.”

Tomkins said he would “lock Anas Sarwar, Douglas Ross and Alex Cole-Hamilton in a room together and not let them out until they reach an agreement”.

Talking about the SNP, he said the tactic would eventually “lead to their defeat.”

He continued: “I couldn’t stand another five years of watching this from a position of being in a tribe or a party that is institutionally unwilling to do anything about it.”

Doubt remains over whether the Tories would agree to such a strategy, with Tomkins adding it was one of the reasons he quit.

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“Tribalism is a huge problem,” he said. “And nostalgia is a huge problem.”

An SNP spokesperson said: “This is a desperate and ludicrous suggestion from Adam Tomkins. Perhaps he has uncorked the Christmas sherry a little too early."

They added: “Bitter Together was hardly a rip-roaring success for Scottish Labour in 2014.

“If they choose to share a ticket with the corrupt and immoral Tories and betray their dwindling number of voters, who absolutely detest what consecutive Tory governments have done to Scotland, the last person at Scottish Labour HQ should just lock the door and throw away the key.”

A Scottish Tories spokesman said: “We offered to work with pro-UK parties against the SNP during this year’s election. Labour rejected that offer inside an hour.”