Scottish Tory leader frontrunner challenges opponents to back him as he dismisses ‘stitch-up’
The frontrunner in the Scottish Tory leadership election has challenged his opponents to say they will support him if he wins as he dismissed their calls for the contest to be suspended over allegations of a stitch-up.
Russell Findlay said that last week’s furore over allegations that Douglas Ross had “plotted” to have him installed as the new leader had “shown our party in a poor” light and warned that the infighting would turn off voters.
Speaking at the official launch of his campaign, he admitted that there were “legitimate questions” to be answered over claims that Mr Ross had attempted to replace his local council leader as a general election candidate last year.
Mr Findlay gave short shrift to the “disappointing” calls from four other candidates for the contest to be suspended and Meghan Gallacher, another candidate, resigning as deputy leader over her concerns about the allegations.
He made clear he would accept the result of the contest and give his full support to the victor if he lost, before challenging his five opponents to make the same pledge.
In a plea for unity, Mr Findlay said the contest was about “all of us” rebuilding the party. He concluded: “If I do get the job, I know that the very first thing I need to do is try and bring the group together and repair some of that damage.”
Murdo Fraser and Ms Gallacher, two of the other frontrunners, said they would accept the result but made clear they each considered themselves the best candidate.
Mr Findlay also used his launch to reiterate that there would be no loosening of ties between the Scottish and UK Tories if he succeeded Mr Ross as leader.
Warning that the party had “lost that Ruth Davidson mojo” that it had under its popular former leader, he pledged to “bring back some sunshine, positivity and hope” ahead of the 2026 Holyrood election.
On Friday, The Telegraph disclosed claims that in July 2023, Mr Ross tried to persuade Kathleen Robertson to let him take her place as the party’s general election candidate for Moray West, Nairn and Strathspey.
It was alleged that he told Ms Robertson, the leader of Moray council, that he would quit immediately as party leader and he wanted Mr Findlay to replace him. However, she was said to have rejected his proposal.
Ms Robertson told The Telegraph the account of the meeting was accurate and Mr Ross did not deny backing Mr Findlay during their discussions.
Mr Findlay, the shadow justice secretary and a close ally of Mr Ross, is viewed as the favoured candidate of the party establishment in the current leadership contest.
Senior Tories said the conversation buttressed allegations that the party establishment was attempting a stitch-up to ensure Mr Findlay succeeded him.
They also said the talks raised fresh questions over the party’s last-minute decision to replace David Duguid with Mr Ross as the Tory candidate in the neighbouring Aberdeenshire North and Moray East seat.
Mr Duguid, the incumbent MP, had been hospitalised for two months with a serious spinal injury but he vehemently denied the party’s claim that he was too sick to stand.
Ms Robertson and Mr Ross failed in their attempts to be elected as MPs last month, with the SNP winning both seats. The furore over Mr Duguid prompted Mr Ross to announce during the campaign that he would quit as leader.
Speaking at his campaign launch at the Glasgow Science Centre, Mr Findlay said: “I accept that the past week has shown our party in a poor light. Legitimate questions need answers. But it’s crucial that we don’t turn inwards and lose sight of what’s really important.
“There is an audience beyond our own ranks who are looking to us. Those conservative-minded voters deserve so much better.”
Pressed to specify the “legitimate questions” he had, the West Scotland MSP argued there should be further examination of what Mr Ross told Ms Robertson about her candidacy and how he came to replace Mr Duguid.
‘We don’t want in-fighting’
Asked about the joint call by four candidates - Mr Fraser, Liam Kerr, Brian Whittle and Jamie Greene - for the contest to be suspended and Ms Gallacher’s resignation, he said: “Myself and many of my MSP colleagues who supported my campaign were quite disappointed.
“We don’t want to see in-fighting, the public aren’t remotely interested in seeing infighting. If anything, it’s going to turn people off at such a critical time when we need to be coming together and rebuilding.”
Describing himself as a “fighter”, he pledged to “spare no effort” over the coming weeks to convince members that he was the best leadership candidate.
“But if I’m not elected, I’ll work with whoever is. And I hope others will say the same. Because at the end of the day, it’s not about me. It’s about us. All of us,” the former investigative journalist said.
Mr Fraser has called for a commission to be set up to examine loosening links with the UK Tories after the Scottish party won only 12.7 per cent of the popular vote in the recent general election.
He said the group would be tasked with examining all the “potential ways forward”, including his plan for a new centre-Right party to fight Holyrood elections. Party members would have the final say over any changes.
‘Ultimate irony’
But Mr Findlay said it would be the “ultimate irony” if the Scottish and UK Tories split just as the threat of independence was “in retreat”.
“I don’t believe we should turn inwards and debate our party’s structure for years to come. Or split away from the UK party. Or form a new party as some suggest,” he said.
“Let’s resolve this here today by saying no thanks to all of that. We are better together as one party. We are stronger together as one party. With me as leader, there will be no split, no separation.”
Mr Findlay said he strongly opposed decriminalising drugs for personal use but refused to answer whether he had taken Class A drugs, other than alluding to a holiday he had in Ibiza in the 1990s.
Mr Fraser said he would support whichever candidate wins, adding: “I have served on the front bench under five previous Scottish Conservative leaders.
“But I am in this race to win it as the candidate with the most experience and the one best placed to build a united team.”
Ms Gallacher said: “My number one priority is ensuring the members of the party are listened to and respected. Whoever members choose, I will accept the result of the contest and support my colleague in leading the party to success in 2026.”