Scottish Conservatives to announce new leader after 'toxic' contest

The new leader of the Scottish Conservatives is set to be announced this morning following a 'toxic' contest to replace Douglas Ross.

Russell Findlay, Murdo Fraser and Meghan Gallacher were all on the ballot paper to succeed Mr Ross.

Polls closed for Scottish Tory members – of which there are believed to be around 7,000 – at noon yesterday, ahead of today's announcement of a winning candidate.

Earlier this month, a senior party grandee questioned whether the Scottish Conservatives are on the verge of falling apart amid the bitter leadership battle.

Jackson Carlaw, who was Scottish Tory leader between 2019 and 2020, said there was a 'genuine concern' that the party would not be able to unite behind the winning candidate.

He claimed the leadership contest was turning 'toxic' amid the divisions in the party and called for supporters of the three contenders to 'wind their necks in'.

Whoever succeeds Mr Ross will inherit a difficult legacy from their predecessor, who was driven out of the role.

It followed his decision to stand in the Aberdeenshire North and Moray East seat at July's general election, in place of former MP David Duguid, who was recovering from a spinal stroke.

The decision irked MSPs and party members after Mr Ross had previously said he would stand down from Westminster to focus on Holyrood.

He was forced to announce in the middle of the general election campaign that he would quit as leader after polling day.

The newly-elected Scottish Tory leader will also face a punishing first few days in the role.

As well as an intense media round following the announcement today, a ceremony to mark the 25th anniversary of devolution is being held at the Scottish Parliament on Saturday, with the new leader due to join others in making a speech before the King and Queen.

Within 24 hours, they will need to head to the Conservative Party conference in Birmingham, where they will undertake a number of engagements.

Appointments of their frontbench team are expected to take place next week.

Elections expert Professor Sir John Curtice told the BBC's Good Morning Scotland radio programme 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 per cent of the vote in the general election, its worst performance ever.'

The Conservatives won five seats in Scotland at the general election, down from six in 2019.

This saw them finish fourth, in terms of seats won, behind Labour (37 seats), the SNP (nine seats), and Liberal Democrats (six seats).