2024 Scottish Conservatives leadership election explained

Election Name:	2024 Scottish Conservative Party leadership election
Type:	presidential
Ongoing:	yes
Previous Election:	August 2020 Scottish Conservatives leadership election
Candidate1:	Russell Findlay
Candidate2:	Murdo Fraser
Candidate3:	Meghan Gallacher
leader
Before Election:	Douglas Ross

The 2024 Scottish Conservatives leadership election will take place in 2024 after Douglas Ross announced his resignation on 10 June.

Background

The MSP Douglas Ross was elected leader of the Scottish Conservatives unopposed in August 2020 after his predecessor Jackson Carlaw resigned. In the 2021 Scottish Parliament election the Conservatives remained the second largest party with the same number of MSPs as at the previous election. Ross was elected as an MSP, having already been an MP. He kept both jobs, donating his MSP salary to charity.^[1]

The Conservative prime minister Rishi Sunak called the 2024 United Kingdom general election to be held on 4 July. Ross initially said that he would stand down as an MP. David Duguid, a former minister who was recovering from spinal surgery, had been expected to run for re-election as the Conservative candidate for Aberdeenshire North and Moray East. On 5 June, he was deselected by the party "on health grounds".^[2] The next day, Ross was announced as the candidate. He initially said he would continue as MP, MSP and party leader.^[3] Ross said that the Scottish Conservatives management board had made the decision to replace him.^[4] The chair of the Scottish Conservatives said that Ross, who sits on the board, had not been part of discussions about Duguid.^[5] Duguid said he had wanted to stand, that no members of the board had visited him in hospital, and that the board was not accurately describing his condition.

Ross was separately criticised for expense claims he had made for flights and parking allegedly part of his additional job as a football assistant referee.^[6]

On 10 June, Ross announced that he would resign as leader on the day of the general election. He also said that if he became an MP he would resign as an MSP.^[7] He later said that he decided to resign so that the leader of the Conservatives would be an MSP.^[8] On 4 July, Ross failed to win election to Aberdeenshire North and Moray East, losing to the SNP candidate Seamus Logan.^[9]

Campaign

Candidate campaigns

Russell Findlay, a former journalist who was first elected as an MSP for West Scotland in 2021, was initially considered the frontrunner. Some MSPs thought that Findlay's supporters were responsible for negative news coverage of Greene and Meghan Gallacher, considered to be potential rival leadership candidates, which Findlay denied.^[10] Findlay announced his candidacy on 22 July 2024. Findlay had supported Liz Truss's campaign to become the UK-wide leader of the Conservative Party.^[11] Findlay said that the party should focus on the party's values of "enterprise, self-reliance, fiscal responsibility and the rule of law" over opposing the Scottish government.^[12] He said the party had focused too much on opposing Scottish independence and criticised Holyrood's "stifling left-wing consensus".^[13] He was seen as being supported by the "party establishment" and close to Ross.

Murdo Fraser announced his candidacy on 7 August. He was first elected as an MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife in 2001 and served as the deputy leader of the Scottish Conservatives from 2005 to 2011. He lost the 2011 Scottish Conservatives leadership election to Ruth Davidson. Fraser said that the UK-wide Conservative Party could stand candidates in Westminster elections but a new sister party could stand in Holyrood elections, citing the party system in Canada, with a commission established that would report after the next Scottish Parliament election.^[14] ^[15] He said recent UK Conservative leaders and Ross had "let down" members.^[16] Fraser said the party should try to "reclaim the centre-ground".^[17]

Meghan Gallagher, the party's deputy leader and an MSP for Central Scotland since 2021, announced her candidacy on 2 August.^[18] She said she would focus on "the right to buy a house, support for parents and pensioners" and lower taxes.^[19] She has criticised "the influence of gender ideology on Scottish institutions" and attacked the charity LGBT Youth Scotland, including by sharing an article accusing it of brainwashing children.^[20] ^[21]

Jamie Greene announced his candidacy on 6 August.^[22] He was first elected as an MSP for West Scotland in 2016. He served as shadow justice secretary until 2023, when he was replaced by Russell Findlay, a decision he credited to his support for the Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill.^[23] ^[24] He said he supported an independent commission on party structures to report after the 2026 Scottish Parliament election.^[25] He also advocated an "overhaul of [the Scottish Parliament's] processes and scrutiny".^[23] Greene opposed a "reactionary lurch to the right".^[26] He said he would seek to attract younger voters.^[27]

Liam Kerr, the shadow education secretary, announced he was standing on 5 August. He said the party needed a "genuinely conservative programme".^[24]

Brian Whittle announced his candidacy on 29 July. Whittle is a former athlete who became an MSP for South Scotland in 2016.^[28] He said he would focus on "education, enterprise and empowering people". He said that the party should consider means testing Scotland's free prescriptions and university tuition.^[29] On 20 August, Whittle withdrew and endorsed Fraser.

On 22 August 2024, Fraser launched his campaign at an event in Perth.^[30]

Campaign issues

In the 2011 Scottish Conservatives leadership election, Murdo Fraser proposed splitting the Scottish Conservatives off from the UK-wide party. Fraser lost the election, but several MSPs including Jamie Greene, Liam Kerr and Liz Smith said that they were open to the idea in 2024.^[31] Russell Findlay and his supporter Miles Briggs strongly opposed the idea of a split or separate brand.

MSPs also disagreed about the party's policy positions. Three MSPs, Jackson Carlaw, Greene and Sandesh Gulhane, supported the Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill along with the majority of MSPs from each other party, while the others voted against. Stephen Kerr said the Scottish Conservatives should stop supporting free tuition and free prescriptions and move to the political right.^[32]

Controversies

On 14 August, MSP Stephen Kerr accidentally published doubts about Murdo Fraser's campaign as a status update on WhatsApp, calling the it "awful". Kerr had endorsed Fraser, but published that he was "beinning to wish" he had nominated Gallacher. Kerr said the comments were out of context, and reiterated his support for Fraser.^[33] ^[34]

On 15 August, the Telegraph reported that Douglas Ross made plans in July 2023 to become a Westminster general election candidate, replacing the candidate in the Moray West seat, Kathleen Robertson. He is reported as saying he would step aside as leader if selected, and he wished to be succeeded by Russell Findlay.^[35] This did not happen, but Ross was controversially selected for the Moray East seat. On 16 August, four out of the six candidates running called for the race to be paused after claims were made about leader Douglas Ross.^[36] Following the report, four candidates (Fraser, Greene, Kerr and Whittle) wrote a joint statement asking for clarification from party officials about the claims.^[37] Meghan Gallacher also resigned as party deputy leader, citing the reports in her resignation letter.^[38] Ross's predecessor as leader, Jackson Carlaw, called on Ross to resign.^[39]

Procedure

Candidates need to be nominated by at least 100 party members to stand for election. The election will take place under instant-runoff voting.

Timetable

8 August: nominations open
22 August: nominations close
4 September: start of voting
26 September: end of voting
27 September: winner announced

Candidates

Declared

Candidate	Political office	Campaign	Ref.
		Leadership for Change^[40]	^[41]
		Real Change with Murdo^[42]	^[43]
		Reset. Rebuild. Restore.^[44]	^[45]

Withdrew prior to nominations closing

Campaign	Ref.	Note
Whittle2Win^[46]	^[47]	Withdrew on 20 August and endorsed Fraser
Fix the Party. Fix Politics. Fix Scotland.^[48]	^[49]	Withdrew on 22 August and endorsed Fraser^[50]
Vision-Unity-Integrity^[51]	^[52]	Withdrew on 22 August and endorsed Fraser