I now see myself as part of db Scotland but I am not sure I am ready to vote SNP yet."Come back and see me next year, I might have changed db my mind," he tells Thumbs Mr Findlay.In the village of Invermoriston, Essex woman provides Mr Findlay with Temoignages Thumbs his first votes of the day. All Thumbs English people can stay."On to the hamlet of Dalchreichart and the most recent incomer. "The SNP has a very good record in local government Temoignages all over Scotland," he says."And we certainly have no intention of Thumbs chasing anyone out Temoignages Thumbs of the country now or in the future. You see I worry whether the SNP has enough experience to run large councils. And Temoignages what will happen to things like my pension if I vote SNP and it leads to independence? Will it still come from England? Will English people still be welcome round here?" db On the doorstep, Mr Findlay is quick to reassure. Has he Temoignages considered voting for db db Scottish independence?"Not really.

The 62 existing councils will continue to administer services until 1 April next year as the new bodies set up administrative structures.. Painted on the front door of Peter Findlay's farmhouse on the banks of Loch Ness is the defiant Scots nationalist slogan: "So long as 100 of us live, we will not yield to the English." It is ironic, then, that the Scottish National Party candidate in the Highland seat of Fort Augustus spends most of his time wooing voters from south of the border. So many "white settlers" have moved into Fort Augustus in recent years in search of a better life that the area, 40 miles south of Inverness, is now known as "Little England".Capturing the seat means winning English hearts and votes, and each morning Mr Findlay, a 60-year-old civil engineer, sets off to persuade the new arrivals to sever political links with the auld country.First stop is Ness Bank cottage, the retirement home of Kenneth Craft, from Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire. This combination - the so-called `triple whammy' - coupled with the Tories' enduring divisions over Europe, could be the beginning of the end for the Prime Minister."Until April 1996, when the Government's Scottish council reorganisation comes into full effect, the 29 authorities elected next week will operate in shadow form only. In Scotland the Conservatives will be left in control of little or nothing. If the same happens in England and the party loses to the SNP in the Perth and Kinross by-election, the Government's Westminster majority will be threatened and its presence in local government will be almost non-existent across the UK.

The outlook is bleak for the Liberal Democrats because the Local Government Act abolished both district councils that party controlled.Because the local government map has been completely redrawn - with new wards in the new councils - comparing the results of next Thursday's poll with the last big test of local Scottish opinion in 1992 will be difficult.John Curtice, senior lecturer in politics at Strathclyde University, said: "The Tories are facing disaster in Scotland but the full impact of the results will only become clear after the local elections south of the border in May. Labour is expected to gain control of at least five councils - including Stirling and South Ayrshire from the Tories - leaving them in charge of local services for four out of five Scots.The SNP looks set to hold Angus and it expects to become the largest party in Perthshire and Kinross and Moray. Analysts say that will drop to a record low of 110 out of the reduced total of 1,161 who will serve on the new mainland authorities. Across the country, from Aberdeen to Ayr, the predicted 15 per cent swing from the Tories to Labour next week will, at best, leave the Tories in charge of a council serving just 2 per cent of the Scottish population.The Tories currently have 236 councillors in Scotland. During the passage of the Local Government (Scotland) Bill, ministers said the new structure would save money and bring services "closer to the people", but critics dismissed the reforms as an attempt to gerrymander support for embattled Scots Tories.The recent slump in support for the Government north of the border, to 11 per cent, has removed any lingering hopes ministers may have had that the new structure would create Tory safe havens in Labour's heartland. Political observers say the party's only slim chance of success lies in East Renfrewshire, south of Glasgow. Labour is set to capture more than half of the councils, with the rest shared between the Scottish National Party and independent candidates.The elections are the first since the Government redrew local government boundaries in Scotland last year, dismantling the country's nine regional and 53 district councils and replacing them with 29 single-tier authorities and three unitary island councils.