Three lessons Scottish Tories must quickly learn from Labour – or face oblivion

After the 2019 general election, Labour had one MP in Scotland, a disjointed and disunited group at Holyrood, and no idea how they’d return to power. The panda jokes were truly on the other side. They’ve since swept the electoral map and leapfrogged my party in Westminster on all metrics.

Anas Sarwar has his sights on Bute House. I, however, do not think this to be inevitable. I also think there are three lessons the next Scottish Conservative leader can take from the socialist’s tartan resurgence.

Appealing to other parties’ voters

Lesson one: know your audience! Labour very much had its cake and ate it by being in opposition at Holyrood and the Commons. They never had to balance books or account for their spending demands. Come election time, they offered little more than the “change” agenda, and seemed relaxed that their principle USP was “we are not them!”

Now in opposition in both parliaments, the Scottish Conservatives need to be unabashed in taking both left-wing governments to task. Democratic norms necessitate it.

We all have short memories. Younger voters will never know how incompetent the last Labour administration were. If imminent strike action by their union friends paralyses Scotland this summer, then we all know how this ends. The Scottish Conservatives must expose Labour’s failures in Westminster, whilst simultaneously exploiting SNPs failures in Holyrood. No mean feat.

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It wasn’t long ago Scottish Labour flirted with independence. You couldn’t differentiate their manifesto much from the nationalists’. They are two sides of the same left-wing coin. But their Damascene drive to appeal outside of their core vote actually worked.

There are voting oddities in Scottish politics, both constitutional and complex. There are natural caps in any party’s “core vote strategy”. Labour had to appeal to Tory and SNP voters to win seats. And they did. They realised that parties on the fringe, achieve fringe-like results. Just as Ruth Davidson realised in 2016.

New relationship with party HQ

Lesson two: be your own person! The very definition of frustration is being derailed by events outside of your control. Labour was endlessly plagued by indecision and ineptitude in government. It’s hard to tell if Keir Starmer and Anas Sarwar have a good relationship, but they do a decent job of pretending to, staying out of each other’s way just enough to let Scottish Labour appear more ‘Scottish’ to voters.

Since losing a successful leader in Ruth Davidson, our frustrated MSP group was too often left to clean up the UK party’s mess. There’s no doubt in my mind whatsoever that the Scottish Conservatives need to renegotiate their partnership with the party south of the Border, for no better reason than we are our own people. Some say it’s radical, I say necessary.

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I’m a proud Conservative, but I got into politics to make a difference, not to apologise for someone else’s mistakes. The umbilical cord which binds the two means the Scottish Tories will always rise and fall with the UK party cycle, which is great on the way up, much less so on the way down.

I think very few people are animated by discussions about party structures or splits. I do think they want to know where we position ourselves on the political spectrum though, more so in light of Reform pitching their tents on our lawn.

The easy thing to do is simply chase those votes back, hit our glass ceiling and be content with being in eternal opposition. The brave thing would be to broaden our appeal. Wide enough to capture new and younger voters, yet centre-right enough to prove that parties on the fringes of the right offer our traditional voters absolutely nothing.

Revolution, not evoluton

Lesson three: don’t be afraid of change! Scottish Labour knew their brand was tired. The Scottish public had fallen out of love with it. They had few activists, were battle-weary and low on funds. Sounds awfully familiar. They paid the price of the Corbyn era. Much as the SNP now are after their own annus horribilis.

Labour skipped evolution in favour of revolution. It unapologetically headed for centre ground (on paper at least), dropped its fringe figureheads, and in Scotland changed its red English rose to a red Scottish thistle. So what, you may ask? Labour needed a unique Scottish identity which allowed its respective party leaders to see eye-to-eye when it matters, but give off a veneer of difference when it suits. The same can now be true of the Scottish Tories.

Our members and activists are undoubtedly loyal people. Loyal to the party they have long campaigned for. I get that. It’s arguably the oldest, most successful political movement in modern history, so reluctance to change is understandable. But I say this: at 12 per cent of the popular vote, maybe it’s time to “do a Labour”. Because “doing a nothing” will be our demise.

I want our party galvanised under a banner which is distinct to us and our Scottish values. Not a logo change or new party slogan, every part of our centre-right movement has to reflect an inclusive, ambitious, modern and competent party worthy of forming, or at least being part of, any future Scottish Government. You heard that right. Power lies in governing, not opposing.

I’m confident the shine will soon come off “New-New Labour”. The next Scottish Conservative leader must beat the opposition at its own game. “Get rid of this rotten, tired government” led Labour to success in Westminster. I think the same can be true of the centre-right in Scotland.

But bold results require brave actions. I fear the current offerings of “change” are well-spun, well-worded and no doubt sincere, but focus too much on the team captain, not the players you need to score goals. Winning is a team effort, after all.

Jamie Greene is a Scottish Conservative MSP for West Scotland