Ruth Davidson and the Scottish Conservatives stopped Jeremy Corbyn becoming Prime Minister, the former chancellor George Osborne has said.

The Tories gained 12 seats north of the border at Thursday's general election while the Conservatives lost seats in England and Wales.

The party finished the night short of a parliamentary majority but 56 seats ahead of Labour.

If the Conservatives did not gain the 12 seats in Scotland from the SNP then the pro-independence party, Labour and the Liberal Democrats would have been able to outvote the Conservatives in the Commons.

The former MP, who now edits the London Evening Standard, made the comments on the BBC's Andrew Marr show.

Osborne said: "She is the heroine of the party who if she had not one seats in Scotland with a much more open and optimistic conservatism than the national campaign was providing there would not be a Conservative government and Jeremy Corbyn would be in Downing Street.

"The interesting thing about her is she is now flexing her muscles and the most interesting thing she is flexing her muscles on is Brexit."

He added: "She has said she now wants to prioritise the economy and free trade over immigration in the negotiations around Brexit, by the way I completely agree with her."

The Conservatives hope to govern as a minority administration with the support of Northern Ireland's Democratic Unionist Party and their 10 MPs.

The DUP have a long standing opposition to same-sex marriage and have blocked its legalisation in the devolved Northern Irish assembly.

On Friday, Davidson said she sought and gained assurances from the Prime Minister that gay rights would be protected and promoted under a DUP supported Conservative government.