Russell Findlay promises Scottish Tories will ‘change’ after winning leadership

New Scottish Conservative leader Russell Findlay has declared his party will change in order to “win back public trust”.

Mr Findlay pledged that under his leadership, the Tories will seek to represent those who are “scunnered” with the “fringe obsessions of the Scottish Parliament” and feel that politicians do not understand the concerns of ordinary voters.

He made the commitment after winning the contest to succeed Douglas Ross, who dramatically quit as Scottish Tory leader mid-way through this summer’s general election campaign.

Mr Findlay, a former crime journalist who was elected to Holyrood at the last election in 2021, easily defeated veteran Tory MSP Murdo Fraser and former Scottish Conservative deputy leader Meghan Gallacher to win the top job.

In a ballot of the party’s 6,941 members in Scotland, and with a turnout of 60%, he secured the votes of 2,565 Tories – placing him well ahead of Mr Fraser, who won 1,187 votes, and Ms Gallacher, who secured 403.

It comes after a leadership contest that had at times been divisive for the Scottish Tories – with Ms Gallacher alleging a “senior member” of the party had been calling members suggesting she was going to quit the race.

After being declared the winner at an event in Edinburgh on Friday, Mr Findlay said the party must now “come together as one united team”, adding: “Let’s start the hard work right now to win back public trust.”

He reached out to voters across Scotland “who don’t feel anyone represents them, who are scunnered by the divisiveness and fringe obsessions of the Scottish Parliament, who feel let down and failed by politicians of every single party”, and who “think politicians are all the same”.

Mr Findlay said: “If you feel that way, I get it.

“But I am not the same, I am not a career politician. I understand your frustrations and your sense that nobody really represents the views you share and hold. That is going to change.

“Under my leadership, the Scottish Conservatives are going to change.

“We will work hard to earn your trust by doing things differently.

“We will be a voice for decent mainstream Scotland and the values of hard work, self-reliance, and value for taxpayers.”

Adding that voters want to see “common sense for a change” from politicians, he added: “We are determined to deliver it.”

Speaking to the PA news agency after the declaration, Mr Findlay said the debate between the three candidates had mostly been “respectful and courteous”, and he had not got involved in any “blue-on-blue” attacks.

Becoming party leader was not part of his “game plan” when he first became an MSP in 2021, he added.

During the leadership election, Ms Gallacher formally complained about senior Tory MP John Lamont, saying he had threatened her career – claims he strongly denies.

Mr Findlay said the complaint is being dealt with “independently by the party”.

Ms Gallacher said the “blue-on-blue needs to stop”, and she stressed the party should move on from the divisions of the campaign.

She said there is an “ongoing process” in relation to her complaint about Mr Lamont but declined to comment further, saying: “We need to wait for the outcome of that process to take place.”

Mr Findlay is expected to unveil his frontbench team at Holyrood next week – and before that he will deliver a speech in Holyrood on Saturday during a ceremony attended by the King to mark the 25th anniversary of the Scottish Parliament.

On Sunday, he will be on stage at the UK Conservative Party conference in Birmingham.

Elections expert Professor Sir John Curtice told the BBC’s Good Morning Scotland radio programme prior to the winner being declared that the leadership election had been “fractious”, after a period in which the Tories had seen support fall away in the two years running up to the election.

Sir John said: “We’re talking about a party that has got just over 12.5% of the vote in the general election, its worst performance ever.”

SNP MSP Kevin Stewart said: “The face of Tory politics in Scotland may have changed, but Russell Findlay’s track record shows he has no desire to stand up for Scotland’s interests.”

He claimed the Tories head into the UK conference this weekend “totally divided and distracted by infighting”.

Mr Stewart added: “They have finally managed to swap out one of two lame duck leaders – but defeated Rishi Sunak is still pulling the strings until November, as what feels like the longest leadership contest in history rumbles on.”

Scottish Labour deputy leader Dame Jackie Baillie said: “Rearranging the deckchairs will do nothing to stop the Tories’ downward slide after 14 years of letting Scotland down.

“The Tories still owe Scots an apology for gambling with families’ savings, crashing the economy and sending bills soaring while putting party before country.

“The 2024 election made it clear that voters want change, not a return to the rotten Tory government of the past.”

Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Alex Cole-Hamilton said Mr Findlay will “find it hard to escape his record of cheering on (former prime minister) Liz Truss”.

He added: “There will also be voters out there who were persuaded by (former Scottish Tory leader) Ruth Davidson but who barely recognise the Conservative Party today.”

Scottish Green co-leader Patrick Harvie claimed the election of Mr Findlay “does seem to confirm that the Scottish Tories are determined to hold on to the title of the nasty party, and to lurch ever further to the right”.

Mr Harvie added: “Like his colleagues, he was a cheerleader for Liz Truss, urging the Scottish Government to copy her disastrous plans. He backed the undermining of the Scottish Parliament through Section 35 and the new Internal Market Act. He’d rather cut taxes on the rich than fund public services.

“He’s an enthusiastic supporter of the Tory culture war agenda, punching down against marginalised people at every opportunity.

“In the midst of the climate emergency he wants to hand multinational corporations more licences to drill for fossil fuel – something the world’s scientists are screaming at us to stop doing.

“In short, he’s probably a good fit for all the worst instincts of the Conservative Party.”