‘Absolute chancer’: new Scottish Tory leader blasts Farage

While one Tory leadership contest rumbles on, another has come to a close. Russell Findlay was made the new leader of the Scottish Conservative party on Friday – and he’s enjoying his victory lap at Tory conference this weekend. At a fringe event today, the former crime journalist was keen to hammer home that his premiership will be about change – doesn’t that sound familiar – and told his audience he wants to ‘get down to the hard work of earning back the trust of the voters we’ve lost’. And with the recent leadership race shining a light on party infighting, he’s certainly got his work cut out…

But the Scottish leader couldn’t resist taking a pop at his political opponents, either. And on the matter of one particular party, Findlay was pulling no punches. Slamming Nigel Farage’s Reform UK, the new leader addressed concerns about the threat of the party’s growing popularity in Scotland.