Jamie Greene joins Scottish Tory continuity vs change leadership race

Greene is the fifth Scottish Tory to declare for the leadership with Russell Findlay the first to step forward, followed by the party’s deputy leader Meghan Gallacher and former Olympian Brian Whittle.

Liam Kerr, who also served as the Scottish Conservative's deputy leader from 2019 to 202, also made his interest known on Monday morning.

The candidates are vying to replace Douglas Ross after he stepped down as leader after failing in his bid for the Aberdeenshire North and Moray East Westminster seat in the last general election. 

Mr Greene has served in various roles within the party including Shadow Justice Secretary, Shadow Education Secretary and Shadow Transport Secretary. In an interview with the BBC last month Greene said that he believed his his vote in favour of the Gender Recognition Reforms put forward by the Scottish Government cost him his place in the shadow cabinet.

Writing in Unspun, Greene said that 'Holyrood is broken' and failing Scots but warned that his party also had to look inward and build bridges within his party if they are to win back voters who switched to Labour and address the rise of the Reform party north of the border.

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“I plan to take the Scottish Conservatives to a new level," writes Greene. "A unified team of ministers in waiting, a raft of pragmatic policies which resonate with voters, and trust rebuilt in a brand which has taken a battering. A proposition which the next generation of Scots will vote for.

“Doing nothing is not an option. Yes, taking risks is scary, but necessary. We have a fundamental choice; will we be the party of eternal opposition, or will we lay the foundations for Scotland’s first centre-right government? Any prospective leader promising gold will deliver brass. People will sit round the table and do deals with the party I lead. That’s how you achieve power in a proportional voting system.

“The success of centre-right governments is that they appeal to voters from the centre out, not the other way around.

“In a crowded race of aspiring leaders, let me reality check: We are losing voters to Reform, to Labour, and to not turning out. Which means we have three urgent tasks in hand, requiring a team effort to deliver.”

This promise of change and ambitions of winning over younger voters could be where Greene gains the most support, believes political analyst, Herald columnist and co-founder of the Message Matters lobbying and PR consultancy, Andy Maciver.

“Somebody like Jamie is on the side of things who would promote the most change," he said." It would be a big change in direction and you’ve also got the more centrist side of the party versus the more traditional law and order side of the party as well.

“If you look at Russell Findlay who is the favourite to win it, you have a situation where if you look at someone like Andrew Bowie who is supporting Russell, and Kemi Badenoch, it emerges as a clear double act from people on that side of the party. You could see Russell as more of a Kemi Badenoch type and you might see Jamie as being aligned to someone like Tom Tugendhat. There’s a change versus continuity thing going on and a centrist vs further right thing going on as well, so I think there is a diverse range on offer it’s fair to say."

Russell Findlay is the favourite for the role (Image: PA)

The UK party leadership contest could also influence the mood in Scotland.

“There’s no doubt what is happening down south will affect what it is happening up here," said Maciver. "Depending on who is looking like getting chosen down south, who is strong or who is weak at the time the Scottish Tory contest is on, you could have a situation where if, for example, Kemi Badenoch is looking really strong then it will effect people’s views on how aligned they want to be to the UK party. I think that’s going to have some sort of impact.

“It’s continuity versus change, continuity in this case means continuing the current approach of being anti-nationalists, compared to trying to identify what they are for.

“The secondary part is where on the centre to right wing axis they actually sit. That’s the difference there too. In that respect it’s pretty open I would say.

“The number of younger people who will be attracted by ‘we fight nationalists’ is small now because independence is off the table. Voters know independence is off the table so it’s not a driver for them anymore, we saw it in the last election. I think Jamie is right to identify what is going to appeal to a new set of voters.”

Liam Kerr also outlined his plans for the party when declaring for the leadership yesterday, stating that he can provide a ‘realistic path to power’.

Writing in the Telegraph, he said: “Going into 2026, we have to present the people of Scotland with a genuinely Conservative programme which gives them a reason to vote for us while also showing a unified, proactive, ideas-led team which presents a realistic path to power.”

Kerr's knowledge of the economy and his strong base of support outside the central belt could also provide an advantage.

Maciver continued: “There’s quite a spectrum from Jamie to Russell and then someone like Brian who is really pragmatic and not as ideologically driven, similar to Meghan. You’ve got Liam Kerr who is from outside the central belt and that makes a difference too.

“He’s got really strong north connections, he’s got more of a grounding in the economy with the briefs he’s had and leans a bit more to the centre, but maybe not as much as Jamie. I think it’s pretty broad. A lot of the split might be along the lines of who is continuity to carry on as things are but with a different voice and who wants something totally different.”