Jamie Greene quits 'Reform-lite' Scottish Tories with scathing letter to Russell Findlay

In a scathing resignation letter, West of Scotland MSP, Jamie Greene, has “taken the difficult decision” to quit the Tories at Holyrood “with immediate effect”.

Mr Greene has issued a warning to Mr Findlay that “Scottish elections are won in the centre ground” and “not on the right-wing fringes in a grotesque dance with Nigel Farage”.

The MSP has claimed he does not believe “I have left the Conservative Party”, adding “the party has left me”. His resignation comes after Tory MSP Maurice Golden told The Scotsman the party was “dismantling the Ruth Davidson era”.

Mr Greene, who will sit as an independent MSP, has held frontbench positions for the Tories for transport, justice and education.

READ MORE: Tory MSP accuses Russell Findlay of 'dismantling Ruth Davidson era' to mimic Reform

In his letter to the party leader, Mr Greene has pointed to joining the “modern party led by David Cameron”. But he warned “the unfortunate truth, however, is that the Scottish Conservative Party which I joined simply no longer exists”.

He said: “This is a decision which I have not taken lightly, and one which has weighed heavily on my mind for some time. I have enormous respect for the many Conservative colleagues and activists that I have worked with over the years. I wish the party no ill will, and hope that feeling is reciprocated.”

Mr Greene added: “I joined the party that supported gay marriage, in which minority communities were welcome, which pledged commitment to a net-zero environment and which was a political ‘big tent and broad church’.

“It was an election-winning formula and I felt as though I had truly found my political home. It was a party that made a young, working-class, gay man from Greenock feel very welcome. I do not regret that decision.

“I proudly supported the upbeat and refreshing leadership of our former leader Ruth Davidson.”

But Mr Greene has launched an attack on Mr Findlay’s leadership of the Scottish Tories. He said: “Chasing the votes of Reform Party supporters will never see the Scottish Conservatives in government. There simply aren't enough fringe right-wing Scottish voters to achieve that.”

The MSP said he has previously “warned we were deserting the middle ground”.

He said: “The party now rests its hopes on a Reform-lite agenda that appeals to the worst of our society and not the best. We now run the very serious and immediate risk of becoming once again the party of social vision and morality wars.

“My generation of Conservative politicians helped put the ‘nasty party’ name in the bin, but it now appears that it was just filed away in a drawer marked pending. I am not alone in feeling this way, although I am perhaps one of the first to say so publicly.”

There had been speculation that Mr Greene was potentially weighing up joining the Lib Dems after being outspoken on gender recognition self-ID, which he supported despite being opposed by the Tory leadership under Douglas Ross.

Scottish Lib Dem leader Alex Cole-Hamilton said: “I have a lot of respect for Jamie Greene. It takes courage to leave and do what you think is right.

“It illustrates how so many people who backed Ruth Davidson’s Conservatives are completely scunnered at what the party has turned into, lurching to extremes to fend off Reform and completely giving up on the centre ground.”

In response, Mr Findlay said that “on a personal level, losing any colleague is disappointing”, adding: “I wish Jamie well.”

He said: “But when I was elected, I promised to take the party in a new direction and said that we needed to be different.

“I promised change and I keep my promises. So I will keep standing up for the common-sense values of mainstream Scotland and opposing the damage caused by Holyrood’s left-wing consensus.

“I’ll continue taking a strong stance against the SNP on tax, gender self-identification, and the damage they’ve done to Scotland’s schools.

“Others may believe it’s best to let the SNP have their way. I will always oppose their dangerous agenda and put forward a proud conservative vision of a different Scotland.”

Asked about his leadership losing an MSP and a flurry of councillors in the space of six months, Mr Findlay claimed it was “unfortunate”.

He told journalists that “you can’t please everyone at the same” but insisted that the majority in his party were “encouraged by the direction of travel” he was pursuing.

Asked whether the party of Ruth Davidson was consigned to history, Mr Findlay said: “Absolutely not.”

He added: “Ruth Davidson supported my leadership bid and I speak to Ruth regularly.”

Scottish Green co-leader Patrick Harvie said Mr Greene’s resignation had underlined the “extreme” direction the existing leadership of the Tories had taken.

Mr Harvie said: “Jamie Greene is to be commended for his honesty in calling out the hard right, ‘nasty party’ tendency of the current leadership of the Scottish Tories. It has become inevitable that this agenda would alienate people, and I doubt he will be the only person making this difficult decision.

“Jamie is a Conservative, and I'm sure that we will continue to disagree about many fundamental issues. But as the Tory Party abandons decency, abandons human rights, abandons climate action and embraces the values of the far right, I welcome the fact that those who want a less extremist form of politics are starting to speak up.”