Tories have mountain to climb but I will bring change, says new Scottish leader

New Scottish Conservative leader Russell Findlay has said he wants to get his party winning again – but the former journalist conceded he has a “mountain to climb” as he looks to restore its fortunes north of the border.

Mr Findlay said the Tories “need to do things better” and he is “determined” to make changes.

His comments come just 48 hours after being elected to succeed Douglas Ross, who quit midway through the general election campaign amid a row over his decision to step in and take the place of a candidate who the Tories removed on health grounds.

Mr Findlay, who was elected to Holyrood in 2021, comfortably saw off competition from veteran MSP Murdo Fraser and former Scottish Conservative deputy leader Meghan Gallagher to win the leadership.

He said it is a “huge privilege” to be the party’s Scottish leader, and told The Sunday Show on BBC Scotland: “I believe our politics need to change, our party needs to change, we need to do things differently, we need to do things better.

“There is an absolute mountain to climb, but I am determined to do what I can to make those changes.”

He said in his previous job as a journalist, he had “watched with growing disdain at the way in which the SNP were trashing Scotland, trashing the economy, trashing the NHS, trashing our education system”, adding that “motivated” him to “step-up and become involved in politics”.

He said he will now look to “unite” the party in the wake of the leadership contest, with Mr Findlay saying: “I have got the mandate from the membership to do so.

“I want to move forward as one winning team, to get us back winning again by coming up with a proper policy platform rooted in our Conservative values of aspiration and ambition, and showing people across Scotland we understand their concerns and we are on their side.”

His comments came ahead of a speech to the Conservative Party conference in Birmingham where he will vow to represent the “commonsense views of mainstream Scotland”.

He will accuse the SNP of neglecting “bread and butter issues” because of a fixation” with fringe causes, such as gender self-identification, adding this has left the public disillusioned with politics and politicians.

The West Scotland MSP will go on claim that Labour have been “shoulder-to-shoulder” with the SNP on policies which are “unwanted by ordinary Scots”.

He will say Labour’s support for measures like gender self-recognition, the hate crime ban and a ban on new North Sea exploration shows the new UK Government cannot offer change.

Mr Findlay will tell the conference: “My message is simple – enough of the nonsense. Stop playing to the minority and start governing for the majority. Focus on common sense for a change.

“This leaves us – the Scottish Conservatives – as the sole voice in the Scottish Parliament speaking up for the commonsense views of mainstream Scotland.”

Responding, SNP MSP Jackie Dunbar said: “I guess it was Russell Findlay’s commonsense approach to politics that led him to back Liz Truss and her disastrous mini-budget that crashed our economy.

“The Tories find themselves stuck dancing to the tune of dangerous fringe politicians like Nigel Farage as they shift further and further to the right. There is nothing the Tories’ establishment candidate in Scotland, Russell Findlay, is going to do to fix that.

“The SNP will focus on governing for the people of Scotland.”