A baptism of fire: The 4 biggest challenges for the new Scottish Tory leader as uphill battle looms
To put it mildly, the new leader of the Scottish Conservatives will not have their troubles to seek. “I wouldn’t wish it on my worst enemy,” joked one party MSP.
Three candidates are in the running - Russell Findlay, Murdo Fraser and Meghan Gallacher - and the winner will be declared on Friday morning at an event in central Edinburgh. They will face a baptism of fire.
Advertisement
Hide AdAdvertisement
Hide Ad

Over the weekend, they will meet the King and Queen in the Scottish Parliament as part of an event marking 25 years of devolution, before heading to the UK Tory conference in Birmingham.
On Tuesday, they will then address their first group meeting of Tory MSPs in Holyrood amid bitter internal divisions. Two days later, the new leader will have their debut outing at First Minister’s Questions, where they will be expected to land some early blows on John Swinney.
It will be a crucial few days, with barely time to catch a breath. Mr Findlay, who is widely expected to win, has been dubbed the "establishment candidate", and the contest has been marred by blue-on-blue attacks. Whoever emerges as the new leader faces an uphill battle.
Heal divisions
The first challenge will be to bring the party together, and that meeting of the Tory MSP group on Tuesday will be important in setting the tone.
Advertisement
Hide AdAdvertisement
Hide Ad“This has been a bruising contest,” said one MSP. “There’s an opportunity to pause, reflect on that and then move forward.”
Some of those backing Mr Findlay have been accused of smearing his opponents during the campaign. There is real anger within the party at how the contest has played out.
Ms Gallacher resigned as deputy leader in August after it emerged Douglas Ross, the outgoing leader, plotted to stand down more than a year ago in order to swap Holyrood for Westminster, and named his preferred successor as Mr Findlay. The fairness and transparency of the race was openly called into question.


Whoever wins will need to heal these divisions. Reaching out to their opponents will be vital. All three candidates have something to offer the party.
Build an electoral strategy
Advertisement
Hide AdAdvertisement
Hide AdThe next task will be to begin preparations for the Holyrood election in 2026. This includes selecting candidates sooner rather than later. Membership sits at under 7,000, which will be a source of concern when it comes to attracting talent.
The Tory vote share in Scotland almost halved at the general election, with just 12.7 per cent backing the party. One MSP described the future as a fight for survival. To recover, the new leader will need to build a viable electoral strategy and craft a message that will appeal to voters.
The Tories have long relied on the constitutional debate to shore up support. They were, they insisted, the strongest unionist opposition to the SNP. But the latter’s general election humiliation means independence has receded into the distance, and there is no prospect of a second referendum any time soon.
Nevertheless, some insiders believe there is a section of the Scottish public who want to kick the SNP out of power in Holyrood. The Tories, they reckon, can utilise this by targeting the list vote. Scots have previously shown themselves more than willing to vote tactically.
See off Reform
Advertisement
Hide AdAdvertisement
Hide AdThe biggest electoral threat may come from Reform UK. Mr Ross failed in his bid to win Aberdeenshire North and Moray East at the general election partly because Nigel Farage’s party split the vote.


"It strikes me that Reform is [the Tories’] biggest challenge in Scotland at the moment,” polling expert Mark Diffley told The Scotsman. “Some of the post-election polling is pretty catastrophic as far as the Tories are concerned. Mainly, it's Reform that is eating up their votes and will eat up their seats as well if they're not careful, come 2026."
The new leader needs to understand why voters are switching, and then act on this. "The Tories lost votes across the UK for reasons of competence as much as anything else, so demonstrating competence would be step one,” Mr Diffley said.
Mr Fraser has warned his party it would be “counter-productive and potentially disastrous for us to chase Reform votes by leaning in to anti-devolution sentiment, alienating us from mainstream Scottish opinion”.
Advertisement
Hide AdAdvertisement
Hide AdWriting in The Scotsman, he added: “Our approach instead should be to talk about the better use of Holyrood powers, for example lowering the tax burden to drive economic growth.”
Avoid cross-border rows
Then there is the small matter of the relationship between the Scottish and UK Tory parties. The latter will not elect a new leader until the start of November, with Robert Jenrick seen as the favourite to take over.
There have been tensions in the past. Mr Ross called for Boris Johnson to resign as prime minister in 2022 amid the fallout over Partygate, which memorably led to Jacob Rees-Mogg calling him a "lightweight".
Of course, being seen as your own man or woman is no bad thing. But there is a balance to be struck here. The trick is to avoid opening up pointless rifts for opponents to exploit.
Advertisement
Hide AdAdvertisement
Hide AdIf policy differences emerge north and south of the Border, this could prove tricky. But the new Scottish Tory leader may find it is easier when the UK party is in opposition.
For a start, there will be no civil servants “getting in the way”, as one MSP put it. There will also be no tough government decisions to defend. Anas Sarwar, the leader of Scottish Labour, is finding out just how difficult the latter can be when it comes to the winter fuel payment.
Comments
Want to join the conversation? Please or to comment on this article.