New Scottish Tory leader Russell Findlay has declared his party will change in order to “win back public trust”.
Mr Findlay pledged that under his leadership the Scottish Conservatives 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 elections in 2021, easily defeated veteran Tory MSP Murdo Fraser and former Scottish Conservative deputy leader Meghan Gallacher to win the top job.
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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 ahead of Mr Fraser, who won 1,187 votes, and Ms Gallacher, who secured 403 votes.
It comes after a leadership contest that has at times been divisive for the Scottish Tories – with Ms Gallacher alleging a “senior member” of the party had calling party members suggesting she was going to quit the contest.
After being declared the winner, Mr Findlay said the party must now “come together as one united team”.
Speaking at an event in Edinburgh where the leadership result was declared he told his party: “Let’s start the hard work right now to win back public trust.”
Russell Findlay defeated Meghan Gallacher and Murdo Fraser to become the new Scottish Conservative leader (Andrew Milligan/PA)
His comments came as 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. And that is going to change.
“Under my leadership the Scottish Conservatives are going to change.”
He told Scots: “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 “see common sense for a change” from politicians, he added: “We are determined to deliver it.”
Mr Findlay is now expected to unveil his frontbench team at Holyrood next week – but ahead of that, he will deliver a speech in Holyrood tomorrow during a ceremony to be addressed 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 on Friday that the leadership election had been “fractious”, after a period when the party has seen its 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.”