The First Minister was in Inverclyde to give candidate Ronnie Cowan’s campaign a final furlong boost ahead of Thursday’s crunch general election.

She was greeted by a large crowd of SNP supporters who had gathered in the town centre to see her during her helicopter tour of the country.

Ms Sturgeon declared: “I think that for this area it needs a strong, committed MP who will put this part of Scotland on the map much more firmly than generations of Labour MPs have done.

“And I think that’s what we can offer.” Ms Sturgeon told the Telegraph: “It’s time for change and this is a chance to make Scotland’s and Inverclyde’s voice heard.

“Wherever you live in Inverclyde, Ronnie will be a fantastic MP for the area if people choose to vote for him.” Ms Sturgeon was cheered as she strolled into Cathcart Square and was immediately thronged by hundreds of well wishers who wanted to have their photograph taken with her.

Children with pieces of cardboard embazoned with SNP stickers waited patiently for the party leader to autograph their handiwork.

Meanwhile, candidate Mr Cowan told how much the visit meant to him and local SNP activists who have been campaigning for weeks.

He said: “We’ve been ticking a lot of boxes and doing everything we can do to run a smart campaign.

“We’ve been working hard, working clever and hopefully today is vindication that we’ve been doing everything right so far.

“We’re close, we know that we are very, very close — so a visit like this will galvanise the troops and get us back on the streets doing the hard graft.” Mr Cowan added: “I’ve got a slight concern that people think that this is done, but we haven’t won Inverclyde yet and I genuinely think that this is going to be really tight.

“We were ahead in the polls in the referendum with a week to go and it came back to bite us, so we’re taking nothing for granted.” Of Ms Sturgeon’s visit, he said: “We’re buzzing. We’re absolutely delighted. Everyone wants a selfie, everyone wants to meet her.

“When the word went out that Nicola Sturgeon was coming to Inverclyde, it put a smile on everyone’s face.

“Everyone is working hard to win their individual campaigns. No-one wants to let the team down, so to speak.

“The more we get down there makes Scotland’s voice stronger and makes Inverclyde’s voice stronger.” Not everyone agreed with the SNP sentiment and two men waving Union Flags staged what they called a ‘silent protest’.

But SNP voters Jean Morgan, 57, of Gourock, and Janice Sharp, 52, of Port Glasgow, were full of praise for Scotland’s First Minister.

Jean said: “Nicola Sturgeon talks our language, she has personality and the human touch. We don’t hear the same old rubbish from her.” Janice added: “She’s a straight talker and she talks a lot of common sense.”