Politics

Russell Findlay replaces Douglas Ross as new leader of the Scottish Conservatives

Published

10 months ago

September 27, 2024

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Russell Findlay has been elected the new leader of the Scottish Conservatives.

The MSP saw off competition from Murdo Fraser and Meghan Gallacher in the bruising battle to replace Douglas Ross.

Mr Findlay won with 2,565 votes on a turnout of 60%. Mr Fraser placed second with 1,187 votes, while Ms Gallacher claimed third with 403 votes.

The announcement comes ahead of the UK Conservative Party revealing Rishi Sunak’s successor on 2 November.

Following his win, Mr Findlay said he “greatly” respected and valued Mr Fraser and Ms Gallacher.

He added: “Now, everyone in our party must come together as one united team.

“Let’s start the hard work right now – today – to win back public trust. And I want to deliver a message directly to people across Scotland who don’t feel anyone represents them.

“Who are scunnered by the divisive policies and fringe obsessions of the Scottish parliament. Who feel let down and failed by politicians of every party – including ours.

“Who think politicians are all the same. If you feel that way, I get it. But I am not the same. I’m not a career politician.”

Mr Findlay said he understood voters’ “frustration”.

He added: “Under my leadership the Scottish Conservatives are going to change. We will work hard to earn your trust by doing things differently.

“We will be a voice for decent, mainstream Scotland and for the values of hard work, self-reliance and fairness for taxpayers.

“We’ll spend all our time and energy on your concerns, your hopes and your needs.

“We know you don’t expect miracles from politicians. We know you just want some common sense, for a change. And we are determined to deliver it.”

Mr Findlay has been the MSP for West Scotland since 2021 and is currently the party’s justice spokesperson at Holyrood.

He has worked as a journalist for STV News, the Scottish Sun and the Sunday Mail.

His investigation into the disappearance of Margaret Fleming was used to help prosecute her killers.

As an author, Mr Findlay has written books on gangland crime and was the victim of an acid attack in 2015 when an assailant appeared on his doorstep disguised as a postman.

In 2017, the attacker was handed a 15-year extended sentence, with 10 years in jail and five years on licence once released back into the community.

Six Scottish Tory MSPs initially announced bids to succeed Mr Ross, who will continue in his role as MSP for the Highlands and Islands.

Brian Whittle, Liam Kerr and Jamie Greene dropped out of the race ahead of the ballot and threw their support behind Mr Fraser.

Mr Findlay, Mr Fraser and Ms Gallacher each secured the 100 nominations required to continue and took part in hustings across Scotland as they sought to convince party members why they were the best person for the job.

During his campaign launch, Mr Fraser called on Mr Findlay and Ms Gallacher to drop their bids and join his team – essentially coronating him as leader.

In response, Mr Findlay said he’d always been “opposed to a coronation, of myself or anyone else”.

He added: “Our members should decide the next leader. Not any small group of people at Holyrood.”

Mr Findlay, who received the backing of former Scottish Tory leader Ruth Davidson, was regarded by some as the favourite to replace Mr Ross.

During the competition, MSP Mr Kerr apologised after branding ally Mr Fraser’s leadership campaign as “awful”.

In a series of posts accidentally published as status updates to his WhatsApp profile, Mr Kerr criticised Mr Fraser’s bid despite publicly backing him.

“I’m beginning to wish I’d nominated Meghan,” Mr Kerr wrote, in reference to Ms Gallacher.

The contentious contest also saw former deputy leader Ms Gallacher lodging a complaint to the party against Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk MP John Lamont.

Following a call between the pair, Ms Gallacher was said to have been concerned she would be deselected ahead of the Holyrood election in 2026.

Mr Lamont, who backed rival Mr Findlay, strongly denied any wrongdoing and said he was “considering further action including legal options”.

Mr Findlay is expected to unveil his frontbench team at Holyrood next week.

Ahead of that, he will deliver a speech during Saturday’s celebrations to mark the 25th anniversary of the Scottish parliament.

And on Sunday, he will be on stage at the UK Conservative Party conference in Birmingham.

Politics

Why Boris’s best mate is off to Reform

Published

3 hours ago

July 10, 2025

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👉Listen to Politics at Sam and Anne’s on your podcast app👈       

Former Conservative chairman and friend of Boris Johnson – Sir Jake Berry – is defecting to Reform UK, causing more problems for Tory leader Kemi Badenoch.

On today’s episode, Sky News’ Sam Coates and Politico’s Anne McElvoy discuss if his defection will divide parts of Reform policy.

Elsewhere, the Anglo-French summit gets under way, with Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer hoping to announce a migration deal with French President Emmanuel Macron to deter small boat crossings.

Plus, chatter around Whitehall that No10 are considering a pre-summer reshuffle, but will it have any value?

Politics

Australia to test CBDCs, stablecoins in next stage of crypto play

Published

5 hours ago

July 10, 2025

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Australia to test CBDCs, stablecoins in next stage of crypto play

The trial is part of Project Acacia, an initiative from the RBA exploring how digital money and tokenization could support financial markets in Australia.

Politics

Starmer and Macron agree need for ‘new deterrent’ to stop small boat crossings

Published

12 hours ago

July 10, 2025

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Starmer and Macron agree need for 'new deterrent' to stop small boat crossings

Sir Keir Starmer and Emmanuel Macron have agreed the need for a “new deterrent” to deter small boats crossings in the Channel, Downing Street has said.

The prime minister met Mr Macron this afternoon as part of the French president’s state visit to the UK, which began on Tuesday.

High up the agenda for the two leaders is the need to tackle small boat crossings in the Channel, which Mr Macron said yesterday was a “burden” for both the UK and France.

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The small boats crisis is a pressing issue for the prime minister, given that more than 20,000 migrants crossed the English Channel to the UK in the first six months of this year – a rise of almost 50% on the number crossing in 2024.

Sir Keir is hoping he can reach a deal for a one-in one-out return treaty with France, ahead of the UK-France summit on Thursday, which will involve ministerial teams from both nations.

The deal would see those crossing the Channel illegally sent back to France in exchange for Britain taking in any asylum seeker with a family connection in the UK.

However, it is understood the deal is still in the balance, with some EU countries unhappy about France and the UK agreeing on a bilateral deal.

French newspaper Le Monde reports that up to 50 small boat migrants could be sent back to France each week, starting from August, as part of an agreement between Sir Keir and Mr Macron.

A statement from Downing Street said: “The prime minister met the French President Emmanuel Macron in Downing Street this afternoon.

“They reflected on the state visit of the president so far, agreeing that it had been an important representation of the deep ties between our two countries.

“Moving on to discuss joint working, they shared their desire to deepen our partnership further – from joint leadership in support of Ukraine to strengthening our defence collaboration and increasing bilateral trade and investment.”

It added: “The leaders agreed tackling the threat of irregular migration and small boat crossings is a shared priority that requires shared solutions.

“The prime minister spoke of his government’s toughening of the system in the past year to ensure rules are respected and enforced, including a massive surge in illegal working arrests to end the false promise of jobs that are used to sell spaces on boats.

“The two leaders agreed on the need to go further and make progress on new and innovative solutions, including a new deterrent to break the business model of these gangs.”

Chris Philp, the shadow home secretary, seized on the statement to criticise Labour for scrapping the Conservatives’ Rwanda plan, which the Tories claim would have sent asylum seekers “entering the UK illegally” to Rwanda.

He said in an online post: “We had a deterrent ready to go, where every single illegal immigrant arriving over the Channel would be sent to Rwanda.

“But Starmer cancelled this before it had a chance to start.

“Now, a year later, he’s realised he made a massive mistake. That’s why numbers have surged and this year so far has been the worst in history for illegal channel crossings.

“Starmer is weak and incompetent and he’s lost control of our borders.”