Exclusive:Russell Findlay: Holyrood is the 'epicentre of twee, self-righteous Scotland'

"I call it the concrete bunker. It's soul-sapping. It's kind of the epicentre of twee, civic, self-righteous, self-regarding, crony-stuffed Scotland.”

Since taking over as party leader at the end of September, Mr Findlay has sought to carve out a platform based on what he calls “common sense” principles.

These include ending Scotland’s “freebie culture”, with a smaller state and lower taxes. The benefits bill is "unsustainable", he believes, and Holyrood is a cosy left-wing bubble detached from the real world.

Speaking exclusively to The Scotsman from his office in Holyrood, Mr Findlay said part of the problem is too much time is spent debating issues the Scottish Parliament has no control over.

"There are lots of MSPs who are clearly doing a grand job, but it does seem to be a bit of an echo chamber, a bit of a bubble, where you just have to look at a typical weekly agenda,” he said.

"The opposition parties all seem to want to talk about things that the Parliament has absolutely nothing to do with, has no power over, whether that be events in the Middle East or other issues of that nature.

"And the reality is this Parliament has a huge amount of power when it comes to changing people's lives for the better."

He added: "It's a place that is hugely frustrating in that it does have power to do good, but far too often it doesn't do that properly and is far too distracted by nonsense side issues."

Mr Findlay stresses he is not a career politician. “I think actually that’s probably to my benefit,” he said.

He was previously an investigative journalist, specialising in organised crime. In 2015, while working for the Scottish Sun, he was the victim of an acid attack at his home in Glasgow. William Burns, the hitman, was later jailed.

Last year, police warned Mr Findlay of a threat to his life believed to be linked to this.

"I'm under absolutely no illusions that this is a clean slate and some of these very dangerous people are essentially allowing me to get on with my life and my new job,” the Scottish Tory leader said. 

"But I can't just shy away from that. I'm not going to be reckless or provocative or flippant about it, but I can't just disappear because a few neds have taken the hump with me."

He said going toe to toe with John Swinney at First Minister’s Questions every week is "basically a walk in the park compared to untangling organised crime in Scotland".

Mr Findlay was motivated to get into politics by “the sense of injustice across politics in Scotland, across public services in Scotland”, but also because of the “political paralysis” caused by the constitutional issue.

The Tories have long relied on the unionist vote to shore up support in Scotland, but the prospect of another independence referendum has receded into the distance. The rise of Nigel Farage’s Reform UK has further complicated things.

Polls show Reform on course to win seats in Holyrood, taking votes away from the Tories. Mr Findlay insisted he is “not even thinking” about Mr Farage’s party.

“I’m not remotely bothered what they do,” he said. “They can continue hiding away or they can come out and start telling people what they actually believe.”

He added: “I don’t know what Reform stands for. In the general election, they had prominent candidates and others who support breaking up the United Kingdom. Are they really a pro-union party? I don’t know.

“They don’t have any form of leadership that we can see in Scotland. They don’t have any policies in Scotland.”

He said it is “demonstrably the case” that voting for Reform will simply benefit the SNP by splitting the unionist vote.

“It’s mind-blowing that after what will be, next year, 19 years, almost 20 years of SNP rule, John Swinney is wandering about looking pretty sure of himself,” he said.

“It’s vital that people understand the Scottish Conservatives are the tried and tested way of beating the SNP and standing up to the SNP.”

The Scottish Tory leader said his party stands for “fairness, opportunity [and] championing success, not stifling it”. Economic growth is “critical to everything”.

He said: “Fundamentally, we believe that when people go out to work for their families, their pay packet, they should keep as much of that as is possible.”

Mr Findlay has taken aim at free prescriptions and baby boxes, and backs the idea of cutting most university degrees in Scotland to three years instead of four, with the exception of subjects such as medicine.

"I think it's a great idea,” he said. “Whether that's something that would be a manifesto commitment would need to be discussed with the shadow cabinet team and wider colleagues in the MSP group.

"We've got fantastic councillors across Scotland, many of whom are passionate about education and knowledgeable about education, and that would be something that we would definitely look at."

He said remaining the second biggest party in Holyrood after the 2026 election “has to be my ambition”, adding: “It would be utterly reckless of me to concede ground on that.

“I would love nothing more than for us to build on that. But I’m a realist as well. I can see the polling, I know it’s going to be difficult. I despair at the further fragmentation of the pro-union vote.

“But again, it goes back to what I can do. And all I can do is put myself out there, explain why our party has changed. We’ve learned lessons from our record as a UK government, which annoyed a lot of people. We can do things differently in Scotland.”

The Scotsman’s full interview with Russell Findlay will be released as a podcast next week. Search for ‘The Steamie’ on Spotify or Apple.