Scottish Tory leadership candidates question fairness of vote

Four candidates in the race to replace Douglas Ross as leader of the Scottish Conservatives have questioned the “transparency and fairness” of the contest.

Murdo Fraser, Jamie Greene, Liam Kerr and Brian Whittle expressed concern over the claim that in 2023 Mr Ross suggested he should be replaced by Russell Findlay – who is also standing in the contest.

In a joint statement the four MSPs said they were “deeply concerned” over the “disturbing” report in the Daily Telegraph.

They party’s deputy leader Meghan Gallagher, who is the remaining candidate in the contest, has not signed the joint statement.

The Daily Telegraph reported that Douglas Ross met with Westminster candidate Kathleen Robertson in July 2023 and raised the prospect of him replacing her in the 2024 general election.

When Ms Robertson, a Conservative councillor, asked Mr Ross who would replace him as leader if he returned to Westminster it it claimed that he suggested Mr Findlay.

The paper reports that she declined Mr Ross’s request to replace her.

Mr Ross and Ms Robertson have been approached for comment.

Mr Fraser, Mr Greene, Mr Kerr and Mr Whittle have now asked party officials to clarify what they knew about this reported meeting and attempts from Douglas Ross to find a Westminster seat for himself.

The group stated: “We are deeply concerned by the disturbing claims about the conduct of Douglas Ross.

“The reports reference his plans and preferences for a replacement leader to take over the party upon his departure, which are relevant to the transparency and fairness of the current leadership contest we are participating in.

“These allegations raise serious questions for the party which, in our opinion, require to be answered before the current leadership contest proceeds further.”

The group is also calling on the party’s management board to clarify if they believe that the fairness of the current contest has been affected by Mr Ross allegedly expressing a preference for who succeeded him.

The group is also asking whether the board believe it was “an appropriate way” to treat a candidate and whether party members in Aberdeenshire North and Moray East were aware of Mr Ross’ request before selecting him as their general election candidate.

Mr Ross ultimately lost his bid to be elected following a controversial row in which Banff and Buchan MP David Duguid was not selected to contest the seat.

During campaigning he announced his intention to stand down as leader, setting in motion a leadership contest scheduled to conclude by the end of September.

BBC Scotland understands that Russell Findlay was not asked to sign the statement.

This Scottish Tory leadership contest is becoming a bit ill-tempered. In truth, it has been for a while. Many insiders believe the ‘party establishment’ is behind Russell Findlay, and that the process is working in his favour.

He may well have some senior people backing him, but there doesn’t seem to be anything that points to him being given an explicit, unfair advantage over other candidates.

Some have suggested he may have been thinking about his candidacy for longer than others – but that’s politics. Nevertheless, other candidates have banded together (highly unusual in itself) to question the legitimacy of this whole process.

Remember, someone will eventually emerge as the new leader of the Scottish Conservatives. They then have a group of MSPs to lead. They are the biggest opposition party at Holyrood. Their role is to hold the government to account.

But right now it feels like the first job of the winner will be to deal with internal disquiet. No easy task in itself.