John Swinney has said that he was "stunned" by Mr Carlaw's sudden resignation, and wished him well for the future.
The Deputy First Minister told BBC Radio Scotland: "I had absolutely no inclination this was coming.
"Leadership is tough, and his statement is very personal reflection on his own assessment of his position. I can't imagine it has been an easy conclusion for him to come to."
READ MORE: MP Douglas Ross tipped to be new Scottish Tory leader
Jackson Carlaw resigned from his role as leader of the Scottish Conservatives earlier today after less than six months in charge.
Mr Carlaw said:
"Over the summer I have had the chance to think hard about my role as leader of the Scottish Conservatives.
"Nothing is more important to me than making the case for Scotland's place in the United Kingdom.
“I believe the Scottish Conservative and Unionist party is the most important voice in Scotland for setting out that positive argument. I am clear that nothing must get in the way of doing so.
"In the last few weeks, I have reached a simple if painful conclusion - that I am not, in the present circumstances, the person best placed to lead that case over these next vital months in Scottish politics prior to the Holyrood elections."
He added: “Given the importance I attach to the job, I've therefore decided to stand down with immediate effect.
“It is not an easy call but I have spent a lifetime in politics holding to the maxim that party and country comes first.
“I believe I am doing my duty by holding to that view now.
“I simply believe that a new leader will be able, as we recover from the Covid emergency, to make the case for the Scottish Conservatives and the Union better than me. That is all that matters.
"I leave the job with genuine pride at my time in office, both as interim leader and as leader for the last year.
“I especially enjoyed the eight years as deputy leader and being an integral part of the success achieved.
READ MORE: Jackson Carlaw: How Scotland reacted to Tory leader stepping down
“Managing the transition from Ruth Davidson's leadership to a refreshed party has been a challenging task but I feel confident that I leave the role with the party in good heart and, crucially, with time to elect a new leader so he or she can prepare for the elections next year.
"The Scottish Conservatives will fight those elections as we have always done - as the one party that will unequivocally speak up for all those Scots who do not want to go back to more division, but instead want our country to move on, as part of the United Kingdom, able to rise to the challenges of the future.
“I will fight that cause hard for these next few vital months as a loyal member of my party.”
Former Scotland Office minister Douglas Ross is being lined up to lead the Scottish Tories.
Mr Ross, 37, was the only UK minister to resign over the Dominic Cummings scandal and is understood to have the backing of Ruth Davidson and other senior party figures.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel