Douglas Ross hits out at ‘calculating’ Tory colleagues

Scottish Conservative leader Douglas Ross has criticised his “calculating” party colleagues during an appearance at the Edinburgh Fringe.

Mr Ross accused some of his MSPs of regularly briefing against him as he admitted opposition against his leadership had “strengthened” and had left feeling “a bit paranoid about things”.

The Highlands and Islands MSP will step down as leader next month, with five candidates in the running to replace him.

The contest has been marred by infighting, including claims that Mr Ross chose a favoured successor, Russell Findlay, last year.

Mr Ross was reportedly asked at an Edinburgh Festival event with journalist Graham Spiers if the leader of the Scottish Tories had to be a “calculating bastard”.

He replied: “I was going to say some of the ones that won’t be leader of the Scottish Tories are calculating bastards.

“But look, all politics is rough and tumble at times.”

The Tory leader added: “You’ve got to be aware of what you’re getting yourself into. And I think maybe even I was not quite as aware of the full intensity of being a party leader.”

The contest to replace Mr Ross was rocked last week by reports that he asked Moray West, Nairn and Strathspey candidate Kathleen Robertson in July 2023 if he could replace her, and told her that he wanted Mr Findlay to replace him.

At the event in Edinburgh, Mr Ross disputed aspects of the reporting but not that he suggested Mr Findlay could replace Ms Robertson.

While he said several names came up in a conversation about a potential successor, he did not deny backing Mr Findlay.

MSPs Meghan Gallacher, Liam Kerr, Jamie Greene and Murdo Fraser are also in the running to replace Mr Ross, with the winner of the contest to be announced on 27 September.

A sixth candidate, Brian Whittle, withdrew from the contest on Tuesday and endorsed Mr Fraser.

Ms Gallacher resigned as the Scottish party’s deputy leader over the allegations that Mr Ross had backed Mr Findlay as his successor last year, describing them as “concerning”.

Meanwhile, Scottish Conservative MSP Stephen Kerr – who has publicly backed Mr Fraser – accidentally made public WhatsApp messages in which he described Mr Fraser’s campaign as “awful” and said that “I’m beginning to wish I’d nominated Meghan”.

Mr Ross announced he was stepping down as leader during the general election campaign after u-turning on his decision not to stand again for Westminster.

He was controversially selected as the Conservative candidate in Aberdeenshire North and Moray East seat ahead of David Duguid, who had been ill in hospital, but did not win the seat.

Mr Ross told the Edinburgh event that he would have been ousted even if he had not sought re-election to the UK Parliament.

Alleging that colleagues were often “briefing against him”, he said: “I’ve known since I became leader that some people didn’t want me to become leader four years ago and throughout that time people have continued to hold that view, and for some that view will have strengthened.”

Mr Ross said he would not have stood for election if he knew he was not going to win, and that even if he had not he would be in the “exact same situation”.

The outgoing leader added: “I would no longer have been an MP, I would still have been an MSP and we would still have had roughly the same vote share across the country; therefore there would have been calls – which I would have accepted – for me to stand down.”

“So yes, there is personal and reputational damage, people speaking about me and making comments, some of which are legitimate, others I think are wrong.”

Mr Ross, having lost his seat at Westminster, will soon return to the backbenches at Holyrood.

The 41-year-old reportedly told the audience he thought he had gone for the leadership role “too early”.

He said he had not made a decision on whether to seek re-election to the Scottish Parliament in 2026.

However, Mr Ross insisted it was wrong to suggest his “heart wasn’t in Holyrood”.

He said: “I worked as hard as I could and others will determine whether I was successful or not.”