Here is what the Scottish Tories need to do now after election battering

“There is no serious understanding because there is no serious communication,” his sidekick Art Garfunkel said in his review notes of the song.

“The words tell us that when meaningful communication fails, the only sound is silence.”

Silence spreads this weekend through the corridors of Holyrood where 31 Scottish Conservative MSPs used to sit, to be replaced in coming days by hordes of callow Reform and Green politicians. And an eerie quiet also descended across polling stations on Thursday, with the national turnout of barely half a national democratic humiliation.

Voters were disenchanted, discouraged and disengaged; they’ve never been less interested in what goes on in Holyrood. Even MSPs who romped home in their seats were often doing so with significantly less backing, if not vote share, than previous elections.

So it’s bad news for democracy, for the Scottish Parliament’s confusing and erratic voting system, and for the general state of political discourse.

As Simon wrote, as if predicting the relation between candidates and the electorate during this campaign: “People talking without speaking. People hearing without listening.”

Bad news, too, for the Tories, whose 12 MSPs represent a major reduction from the previous two elections in 2021 and 2016, and beneath what was considered a baseline of 15 in 2011.

And yet, it is here where the new Scottish Conservatives can find a longer-term solution for their fortunes and those of the country.

For all they’ve been hollowed out in number, those who remain are still pretty good as individuals. There are some serious brains left on the dark blue benches, and much heavy lifting will be expected of them.

That’s in contrast to a parliament which has now never been more truculent.

Reform and the Greens have announced themselves as “disruptors”. That means there are now at least 32 MSPs whose chief motivation will be to agitate and push the boundaries, perhaps recklessly so.

Holyrood has never had that level of disorder before, usually only enduring a small handful of renegades.

Despite being regarded as a country with soft conservative and centre-right attitudes, Scots are now worse-represented on that particular front than at any time in Holyrood’s short history. It is likely Labour will elect a left-wing leader, seeking to distance themselves as far as possible from centrist Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer.

The SNP have lost a number of MSPs on their right, and replaced them with a younger cadre who will likely also be more to the left.

We know where the Greens and the Liberal Democrats stand, and it remains to be seen just how hard-right Reform MSPs will be. I suspect they don’t even know. But it does leave a sizeable gap for a sensible centre-right movement, which prioritises intelligent debate, thoughtful policy-making and mature conversation.

For a party which treats the voters as adults, telling them what they need to hear rather than what they want to.

They may be small in number, but they’ve got five years. Space and time. The success of Reform and the Greens in this election shows you can do much with a small group of people.

It is important now the party regroups and repositions itself in line with Scottish views and demands.

Don’t seek to emulate Reform on the right. And I would also warn against wasting time and energy antagonising the Greens on the left.

Let both parties get on with what they do and focus on yourselves.

There is more to gain from pitching to those in the middle than the edges. They could perhaps take some inspiration in an unlikely source: the First Minister John Swinney.

Now the dust has settled on an angry campaign, it should be recognised he is a class act.

Voters have endorsed his polite, respectful and unflashy approach to politics, because Scots like low-key, unspectacular and guarded individuals. A sound family man over a showman.

The Conservatives have a number of such MSPs on their benches now and, with the right approach and commitment to the cause, could make a virtue of that in coming years.

It may feel unnatural at first, and not seem like it’s rendering immediate results, but the Tories can afford to take risks now. Those may include dropping talk of independence, or at least until it comes back onto the agenda as a clear and present danger. More importantly, I think, is dialling down the confrontation.

The aggressive approach worked well in the past, especially in the last two elections, but it’s worth easing off.

By positioning themselves as a sensible, palatable alternative, they will chart a different course to Reform and, probably, whatever the new wounded and angry Labour party looks like.

Maybe an SNP First Minister won’t know how to handle a Conservative group which are well organised, boasting high intellect and genuinely committed to productive political discourse?

And maybe the public will like it.

Former Labour spinner Paul Sinclair bemoaned that Labour hadn’t done any “intellectual heavy lifting” during the campaign, and paid a heavy price.

That suggests to me Scots – so reluctant to turn out and vote at this election – want to be treated as grown-ups. Looking at the new make-up of Holyrood, there will not be a great deal of parties ready to do that.

“No-one dares take the risk of reaching out (‘take my arms and I might reach you’) to disturb the sound of silence,” Garfunkel adds in his dispatch.

There has never been a better time for the Scottish Conservatives to do things differently from everyone else.

In the process, they’ll be hoping not to emulate the famous lyrics of another Simon and Garfunkel classic.

“Laugh about it, shout about it when you’ve got to choose. Every way you look at it you lose.”

Adam Morris is former head of media for the Scottish Conservatives