Scottish Tory MSP Jeremy Balfour quitting is latest sign of deep unhappiness in party under Russell Findlay
Russell Findlay might be an optimist, but things are looking gloomy
Scottish Tory leader Russell Findlay struck a defiant tone when he addressed his party’s conference in Edinburgh back in June.
"Pundits want to write off our party," he told activists. "But I’m an optimist. I’m not prepared to accept doom and gloom. Where we are today is not necessarily where we will be tomorrow."
Fast forward a few weeks, and the Tories have just lost their second MSP in recent months. Jeremy Balfour has resigned from the party with immediate effect, accusing it of falling into “the trap of reactionary politics” and “chasing cheap headlines”.
The Lothian MSP will sit as an independent until the Holyrood election next year. It comes not long after Jamie Greene defected from the Tories to the Liberal Democrats in April.
To paraphrase Oscar Wilde, to lose one MSP may be regarded as a misfortune; to lose two looks like carelessness. The deep unhappiness within a section of the party is becoming increasingly visible.
Mr Balfour’s comments echo some of those made to me at the time of Mr Greene’s defection. "The overall approach from Russell and his team is very much populist, headline-driven,” one MSP said. “It's just cheap headline-grabbing.”
There is a perception that key decisions are being taken by advisors while senior MSPs are ignored. Mr Findlay could perhaps do more to address this, but to be honest his troubles are so much wider than that.
The Tories are facing an existential threat from the rise of Nigel Farage’s Reform UK. In his attempts to meet this head-on, Mr Findlay is alienating more moderate, traditional Tories. A battering at the Holyrood election next year looks increasingly inevitable.
“I take no pleasure in leaving my political home after over three decades,” Mr Balfour wrote in his letter of resignation. “But as I have watched the party drift away from the principles that led me to join, I believe that I have no choice.
“I do hold out hope that it will find its way back to be the party that I once proudly represented, but unfortunately it might take some harsh electoral results to force the issue.”
Mr Findlay might be an optimist, but things are looking undeniably gloomy for his party.
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