Scottish Tories ‘need to send out a more positive message’

Mr Whittle confirmed he was considering standing to replace Mr Ross, who shocked the party by quitting during the election campaign so he could stand in the Aberdeenshire North and Moray East seat, which was eventually won by the SNP.

The Telegraph understands up to eight MSPs are weighing up throwing their hats into the ring in what could be a crowded leadership contest.

Russell Findlay, the shadow justice secretary, is the early front-runner and has the backing of many of Mr Ross’s inner circle. However, some Tory MSPs have concerns about his lack of experience outside his “comfort zone” of crime.

Meghan Gallacher, the deputy leader, is also thought likely to stand. She has claimed the Tories need to find a way to appeal to people in urban areas and to younger voters and families.

Other MSPs are waiting for Murdo Fraser, the shadow business secretary, to make clear his intentions before deciding whether to enter the contest.

Mr Fraser, who is on holiday in the US, stood against Ruth Davidson for the Scottish Tory leadership in 2011. He has previously proposed a commission to examine loosening ties with the party in London.

Among the other possible candidates are Central Scotland MSP Stephen Kerr, shadow education secretary Liam Kerr, North East Scotland MSP Maurice Golden and West Scotland MSP Jamie Greene.

Some are understood to favour a return to traditional, small “c” conservative values, including dumping the party’s support for universal free prescriptions and university tuition.

The latter policy requires a cap on places for Scottish students so it is affordable, prompting warnings that some of the brightest children have to move south of the border to enter university.

“The majority want a reset of the party. We want us to get serious about the kind of policies and the style of leadership needed,” one senior MSP said.

“We become irrelevant if we become another left-of-centre party. Our relevance is we offer something different.” 

The MSP argued the party should focus on policies that most Scots would agree with, even if they do not consider themselves Tories.

The party’s management board will set rules on levels of support necessary to make the ballot of members and a timetable for the contest.

We must evolve or become irrelevant

By Brian Whittle

This election result leaves the Conservative Party with a lot to think about. Here in Scotland, defying the bleakest predictions and retaining all but one of our seats is something to be proud of, but it doesn’t erase the less comfortable facts.

A vote share that couldn’t quite reach the teens, 16 deposits lost and Reform, a party with little to no meaningful presence in Scotland, running us close in too many seats.

That our result was not far worse is a testament to the huge effort put in by our members and candidates. They deserved a better reward than the results we had.

The message to the Scottish Conservatives from this election is clear; evolve or become irrelevant.

When Ruth Davidson catapulted us to success in 2016 she demonstrated that with the right offering to voters, Scotland would give us a hearing. That offer was simple – we’ll defend Scotland’s place in the United Kingdom and hold the line against a dominant SNP.

But that message is played out. As the SNP’s fortunes diminish and their dismal performance in government becomes all too clear, voters don’t want a strong opposition, they need a credible replacement government.

Scottish Labour are confident they are that government in waiting. Personally, I’m less convinced.

On tax, on public services, on the economy, Scottish Labour are far closer to the SNP than they would ever want to admit. And we should never forget that Labour backed the SNP’s gender recognition reforms. Only the Scottish Conservatives stood firm in saying they went too far.

But after so many years of spending our time telling voters what we’re against, both we and the public have lost sight of what we are for.

At a moment of profound change and challenge for society, voters need more from their politicians than big promises.

When someone can’t get the GP appointment they need; when their child is struggling in school; when they have to decide between paying their energy bill or replacing the car tyre that just burst on a pothole the council can’t afford to fix, they don’t want to hear who’s to blame or why it’s someone else’s fault.

They aren’t interested in how moving towards a “wellbeing economy” or a “just transition” will make everything better in 10 or 15 years.

They don’t want excuses and promises of a better tomorrow, they want a competent government which will act now and make things better.

Leadership can make or break a team

This is the opportunity for the Scottish Conservatives – to be the party offering competence and action where people really need to see it – that’s a true change of direction. However, to be that party we don’t just need a new leader, we need a new vision.

That discussion needs time and space. Things which I and many other MSPs and party members have pushed for in this contest.

Leadership can make or break a team. I’ve seen it in sports, business and politics. Effective leadership comes in many forms, but what is always true is that good leadership creates great teams, and great teams succeed when they have a clear objective and the strategy to achieve it.

This leadership election is our opportunity to build our team, set our objective and formulate our strategy to win in Scotland.

After 25 years of devolution, we are the only party in Holyrood never to have had the opportunity to govern. It’s time to decide how we change that.

We have the talent in our MSPs, MPs, councillors and party members to create distinctive, pragmatic and practical policies that deal with the challenges facing Scotland. Far too much of that talent has been serially underutilised. We need to start empowering it.

Issues like climate change, AI and the future of public services need big ideas for the long term. But those ideas need to be practical and work for people. Those are the kinds of ideas that the Scottish Conservatives should be leading on.

After nearly two decades of an SNP whose idea of effective government is a good headline in tomorrow’s paper and launching endless consultations on anything more challenging than tying their shoelaces, Scotland deserves change.

I believe the Scottish Conservatives can be the team to offer it. Both the Scottish and UK Conservative leadership contests must be about more than infighting and telling members what they want to hear.

This is our opportunity to start building a better future for our party and a better future for Scotland. Let’s grasp it.

Brian Whittle is Scottish Tory MSP for South Scotland