As the UK Tory leadership contest rumbles on, north of the border the Scottish race is hotting up. Last week saw a rather dramatic few days in which four of six contenders called for the competition to be paused and the party’s deputy leader quit her post after ‘disturbing claims’ about outgoing leader Douglas Ross emerged. It transpired that Ross attempted to shuffle out a prospective parliamentary candidate so that he could be selected to contest a Westminster seat in the 2024 election. The Telegraph report also claimed that the Scottish Tory leader wanted to ditch the top job over a year ago – and instead coronate current leadership candidate Russell Findlay. But despite the negative press, Ross remains pugnacious…
During an interview at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, the outgoing leader was quizzed on his Holyrood colleagues – and he was pulling no punches. Asked whether one had to be a ‘calculating b**tard’ to be a Tory party leader, Ross appeared to hit out at some of the six leadership contenders, replying: ‘I was going to say some of the ones that won’t be leader of the Scottish Tories are calculating b**tards.’ Burn…
Going on, Ross didn’t shy away from speaking on the rather negative briefings flung his way over the last few months. Addressing his detractors, the Scottish Conservative leader added wryly:
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.
At least he’s self aware, eh? His fiery remarks come after weekend reports in the Sunday Post that suggest Ross is facing an orchestrated campaign to oust him from the top job immediately. Party insiders have suggested their current leader has lost the support of half of his MSPs already, while the Highlands and Islands MSP has been accused of being ‘missing in action’ as his Holyrood group hasn’t met since the July election. His predecessor Jackson Carlaw even took to Twitter to make clear his concerns about the current leader, blasting Ross’s position as ‘unsustainable‘. Ouch. The Scottish Tory civil war is starting to give the SNP’s infighting a run for its money…
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