Background
Douglas Ross had been elected unopposed as Scottish Conservative leader in August 2020, following the rather brutal defenestration of Jackson Carlaw who had only formally been in post since February that year. This was a rather unexpected turn of events when you consider that Ross had quit Holyrood only a year after being elected as a Highlands and Islands MSP in 2016, as he was successfully elected as MP for Moray in 2017. When he returned to Holyrood in 2021 as party leader, he continued to serve as MP – a by-election at that point may have been an unappealing prospect for the party given his slender 500 vote majority.
Ross’ continued presence at Westminster, plus his side gig as a football linesman, would do more than prompt jokes about how many jobs he was holding down. The sense that his heart wasn’t really in Holyrood was always hard to shake, and it was all but admitted during the General Election campaign when he suddenly u-turned on his pledge to stand down from Westminster. With a brutality matching his ascent to the leadership, MP for Banff and Buchan David Duguid was deselected as candidate for the redrawn Aberdeenshire North and Moray East seat at short notice whilst convalescing in hospital, with Ross sweeping in to stand in his place.
Absolutely nobody was convinced by the suggestion this had been done out of a sense of duty to the party. The outrage from the MSP group was immediate, and Ross was forced to pre-announce his resignation as leader. Whilst many had privately expected that following the election regardless, to have your leader effectively resign during a campaign is not what any party wants. All of that would prove to be for naught, as Ross would go on to be the only Scottish Conservative candidate not to hold an existing seat, as local voters expressed their distaste for this sordid episode.
Things have only gotten worse for the party since then however, with the campaign rocked by revelations that Ross had apparently asked the woman who replaced him as Conservative candidate for the Moray seat if she’d stand aside for him in 2023, and in so doing indicated who he expected to succeed him as party leader. In response four of the six candidates wrote to the Party Management Board seeking answers, whilst a fifth resigned as Deputy Leader.
Whoever succeeds Ross was already going to inherit a party that had suffered the loss of half of its support in the face of a Labour resurgence and Reform UK making more Scottish headway than any further right party had before. Now, they’ll have to get a handle on a fractured and mistrusting MSP group, large numbers of whom are at risk of losing their seats in 2026 if they don’t turn things around.
Candidates
To be nominated for the leadership, candidates needed the backing of at least 100 members. Candidate photos are their official portraits for the Scottish Parliament, and are attributed accordingly.
Russell Findlay was elected as one of the MSPs for West Scotland in the 2021 election. Formerly a journalist by trade, Findlay was marked out as a rising talent in the party very shortly after his election. Even before the leadership campaign formally got underway, anonymous briefings to the press had painted Findlay out as something of the “preferred successor” to Douglas Ross, with other MSPs reportedly highly resistant to a possible coronation. Though Findlay has rejected such characterisations, he does appear to be the frontrunner as a result.
Murdo Fraser became one of the MSPs for Mid Scotland and Fife in 2001, coming in as a mid-term replacement following the resignation of a party colleague, making him the longest-serving current Conservative MSP. Fraser ran for the leadership in 2011, on a rather dramatic policy pledge to effectively dissolve the Scottish Conservatives and re-establish themselves as new party independent of, but co-operating with, the UK-level Conservatives. That policy appears to have been largely walked back in this campaign.
Meghan Gallacher was elected as one of the MSPs for Central Scotland in 2021, having previously been elected in 2017 as a councillor for North Lanarkshire’s Mortherwell West ward, serving as local group leader. Another of the 2021 intake that was marked out very early on for greater things, Gallacher would go on to serve as Deputy Leader of the party from May 2022 until her resignation during the leadership campaign, citing her concern about various revelations and the difficulty of combining the role with actively campaigning for leadership.
Jamie Greene was elected as one of the MSPs for West Scotland in 2016. Particularly following Ruth Davidson’s departure to the Lords, Greene has been one of the party’s most prominent LGBTI+ representatives. This notably put him at odds with his party around the Gender Recognition Reform Bill, as he was one of the three Conservatives to vote in favour, which was widely considered to have contributed to his eventual sacking from the front bench. Perhaps unsurprisingly, his leadership pitch has called for a move away from the culture wars, in part to appeal to younger voters.
Greene withdrew from the contest on the 22nd of August, announcing his backing for Murdo Fraser.
Liam Kerr was elected as one of the MSPs for North East Scotland in 2016, and would go on to serve briefly as one of two Deputy Leaders of the party under Jackson Carlaw’s brief leadership. Kerr’s entry to the contest was rather interesting in that he immediately garnered the endorsement of fellow North East MSP Maurice Golden, who had seemingly been on leadership manoeuvres of his own for some time beforehand.
Kerr withdrew from the contest on the 22nd of August, announcing his backing for Murdo Fraser.
Brian Whittle was elected as one of the MSPs for South Scotland in 2016. A former athlete, Whittle is no stranger to a difficult race, but as something of an unexpected wildcard entry to this contest, he may struggle to make it to the medal podium this time.
Indeed, Whittle was ironically the first candidate to exit the race, doing so on the 20th of August and offering his support to Murdo Fraser.
Timetable and Process
- 8th of August
- Nominations open
- 22nd of August
- Nominations close
- 4th of September
- Ballot opens
- 26th of September
- Ballot closes
- 27th of September
- Result announced
Voting will be via one member, one vote using the transferable vote.
MSP & MP Endorsements
Although parliamentarians have no formal role in the process, such as determining who can stand, as the most prominent public faces of the party, who they back matters. There are currently 31 Conservative MSPs and 5 MPs. As candidates are obviously self-endorsing, the available pool of proper endorsements is 33 parliamentarians.
- Craig Hoy – MSP for South Scotland, Party Chair
- Douglas Ross – MSP for Highlands and Islands, outgoing party leader
- Andrew Bowie, MP for West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine
- Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian
- John Cooper, MP for Dumfries and Galloway
- Harriet Cross, MP for Gordon and Buchan
- Sharon Dowey, MSP for South Scotland
- Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands
- Pam Gosal, MSP for West Scotland
- Sandesh Gulhane, MSP for Glasgow
- Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire
- John Lamont, MP for Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk
- Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland
- David Mundell, MP for Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale
- Oliver Mundell, MSP for Dumfriesshire
- Alexander Stewart, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife
- Sue Webber, MSP for Lothian
- Annie Wells, MSP for Glasgow
- Tess White, MSP for North East Scotland
- Finlay Carson, MSP for Galloway and West Dumfries
- Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland
- Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, withdrawn leadership candidate
- Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, withdrawn leadership candidate
- Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland
- Edward Mountain, MSP for Highlands and Islands
- Graham Simpson, MSP for Central Scotland
- Liz Smith, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife
- Brian Whittle, MSP for South Scotland, withdrawn leadership candidate
- Jeremy Balfour, MSP for Lothian
- Roz McCall, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife
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