Russell Findlay has launched his bid to be the next leader of the Scottish Tories with a promise to champion ”common-sense, aspiration, ambition, opportunity and decency.”

The West Scotland MSP admitted that the last few weeks had shown the party in “a poor light” and he said there were “legitimate questions” around Douglas Ross’s conduct.

“But it’s crucial that we don’t turn inwards and lose sight of what’s really important,” he told the crowd of supporters gathered in Glagsow’s Science Centre.

“There is an audience beyond our own ranks who are looking to us. Those conservative-minded voters deserve so much better.”

READ MORE

The former investigative journalist also faced some questions over his past. The firm opponent of drug decriminalisation side-stepped a question on whether he had ever personally used narcotics.

“I wouldn't want to be drawn on that,” he said.

"You may have read Chris Deerin's dispatch in the New Statesman about how he went on holiday to Ibiza in the 1990s. It wouldn't be right for me to talk about my own past in that respect," he added.

(Image: Colin Mearns/Herald & Times)

Nominations for the leadership races close on Thursday.

The already bitter contest descended into chaos last week when five of the six candidates standing in the contest attacked Mr Ross.

It followed reports that he had attempted to quit as leader more than a year ago and install Mr Findlay as his successor.

The Telegraph reported that in July 2023, the MSP told the party’s general election candidate for Moray West, Nairn and Strathspey that he wanted to replace her.

However, Kathleen Robertson, who is the leader of Moray council, rebuffed his request.

Insiders told the paper that at the meeting in Mr Ross’s house, he told the councillor “his heart was in Westminster, not Holyrood” and promised her she would be selected as the Tory candidate for the equivalent Scottish Parliament seat at the 2026 election.

Asked who would replace him, he said Mr Findlay.

Ms Robertson made the party chair, Craig Hoy, aware of the conversation at the start of the year.

Murdo Fraser, Jamie Greene, Liam Kerr and Brian Whittle signed a joint statement questioning the “transparency and fairness” of the process.

Meghan Gallacher quit as Mr Ross’s deputy saying she was “deeply troubled” by the allegation.

The paper's report has also led to more unease over Mr Ross’s bid to stand for Westminster in the new Aberdeenshire North and Moray East constituency.

He replaced the incumbent David Duguid as the candidate after the party’s ruling Management Board declared him too ill to stand.

Mr Duguid - who has been recovering from illness in Glasgow’s Queen Elizabeth Hospital Spinal Unit - has long insisted he was well enough to contest the election.

(Image: Colin Mearns/Herald & Times)

Mr Findlay insisted he had "full faith" in the process.

"I don’t think there’s been anything said that would suggest that’s not the case," he said.

He added: “I am confident that our party will have a robust and fair contest for leadership and whoever prevails will unite us.”

Mr Findlay said he was “quite disappointed” by last week’s events.

“We don't want to see infighting. The public aren't remotely interested in fighting. If anything is going to turn people off at such a critical time. We need to be coming together and rebuilding.

“So if I do get the job, the first thing I will do is try and bring the group together and repair some of the damage.”

When asked by The Herald if he thought Mr Ross should resign immediately, as former party leader Jackson Carlaw has called for, Mr Findlay said he saw no reason to hasten his departure.

The frontrunner also ruled out any form of split with the UK party. Murdo Fraser, who is likely to be his main rival in the contest, has proposed a commission to assess the relationship between the Holyrood and Westminster groups.

Mr Findlay said it was “clear that for the foreseeable future at least, independence is not happening.”

“So, just as the danger of Scotland separating from the rest of the UK is in retreat, it would surely be the ultimate irony for the Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party to separate from the UK party.

“I don’t want to dwell on this too much – but the question has been put on the table by others, so I do need to answer it.

“I don't believe we should turn inwards and debate our party’s structure for years to come, or split away from the UK party. Or form a new party as some suggest.

“Let’s resolve this here today by saying no thanks to all of that. We are better together as one party.”