Moray MP Douglas Ross is “likely to be a candidate in the contest” to be leader of the Scottish Conservatives following Jackson Carlaw’s sudden resignation.
It comes following the sudden resignation of Jackson Carlaw after less than six months in the job.
Announcing the move yesterday. Mr Carlaw said he made the “painful decision” after realising he was not the best person to lead the party in the run-up to next May’s Holyrood election.
He was in post for just 168 days, just two days less than he spent as interim leader replacing Ruth Davidson.
READ MORE: Douglas Ross: Five things you need to know about new potential Scottish Tory leader
Ruth Davidson stood down from the role in August last year with Mr Carlaw serving as acting leader until being fully appointed in February.
However John Lamont, MP for Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk, also confirmed Ms Davidson would return to frontline politics and play a part in the team if Mr Ross is elected.
Speaking to Times Radio he said would be campaign manager of Mr Ross’s bid to lead the Scottish Conservatives and that RuthDavidson “will be taking on Nicola Sturgeon in the Scottish Parliament” up until the election where they hope the MP will swap Westminster for Holyrood.
He said: “I think he has not only the skills to unite the Conservative Party in Scotland, but also, more importantly, the skills to unite the unionists vote within Scotland’s which is currently fragmented between a number of different parties.
READ MORE: MP Douglas Ross tipped to be new Scottish Tory leader
“One of the strengths of the SNP is they’re able to consolidate most of the nationalist vote behind them – which clearly poses a threat not just from the Scottish Parliament elections next year but in terms of the possibility or another referendum.
“I was (Ruth’s) campaign manager back in 2011 when she was elected Scottish leader and she has grown from strength to strength since that point and she’s going to be playing a part and Douglas’s team if Douglas is elected.
“Ruth will be taking on Nicola Sturgeon in the Scottish Parliament between the point of Douglas’s election until next year’s election to the Scottish Parliament when we hope that Douglas is going to be returned as an MSP.
“Ruth will be returning to frontline politics and I think that’s a very welcome move because, as you say, Ruth is a formidable performer and a great advocate for Scotland remaining part of the United Kingdom, which is clearly a very important part of political dynamic in Scotland with opinion polls showing renewed support for nationalists.”
READ MORE: Jackson Carlaw quits as Scottish Conservative leader
Prime Minister Boris Johnson paid tribute to Mr Carlaw saying he has been a “tremendous servant to the Scottish Conservative Party for more than four decades”.
READ MORE: Knocked off course by virus crisis, dithering Carlaw finally ends the drift
Michelle Ballantyne, MSP for the South Scotland region who had stood against Mr Carlaw in the bid to become leader said the party “did make a bad choice” in appointing him leader and suggested the decision to remove him was a “stitch-up”.
But fellow party MSP Adam Tomkins, who is to quit Holyrood at the 2021 election, told the BBC's Good Morning Scotland radio programme: "Michelle doesn't know what she's talking about.
"The only thing that we need to remember about Michelle is that she was beaten 75/25 in a two-horse race by Jackson Carlaw only a few months ago and I'm afraid that Michelle doesn't speak for the party.
"I think the reason why we're worried about the polls is because we think that they might be right for the first time in Scottish history.
"Independence now looks like it might not be the minority pursuit that it's always been but the position of a majority of Scots and we need to do something about that.
"I think Douglas is exactly that kind of combination of formidable and robust and determined that we do need... I think he will be an outstanding candidate and an outstanding leader if he does announce his candidacy."
Mr Ross had been a parliamentary under-secretary of state for Scotland but resigned from the role in May after Dominic Cummings’ efforts to defend his trip from London to Durham despite the coronavirus lockdown.
He was elected to Westminster in the 2017 general election, taking the seat of Angus Robertson, former SNP leader in the House of Commons, having been a regional MSP for the Highlands and Islands in the year prior.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel