Murdo Fraser has called on his rivals to end their bid for the Scottish Tory leadership and allow him to replace Douglas Ross uncontested.

The veteran MSP said keeping the already acrimonious battle for top job rumbling on until September 27 meant the party risked spending the next five weeks “shouting at each other” and “under a cloud of suspicion and impropriety.”

He was speaking as he formally launched his campaign in Perth where he was flanked by Jamie Greene and Liam Kerr. Both men dropped out of the contest on Thursday morning to back Mr Fraser.

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The MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife told supporters: “And so today I say to both Meghan Gallacher and Russell Findlay, let’s bring this sorry chapter to a close.

“Come and join this team. Show our members and the country that we understand their frustration. That we have responded to their deep concerns.“

In response, Mr Findlay said he was opposed to a coronation, “of myself or anyone else.”

He added: “I’m standing to give our members the fair and positive contest they deserve because our party must change.

“We need fresh ideas and a new approach. That’s why I’ve set out a positive Conservative vision with policies that champion aspiration, opportunity and decency.

"Our members should decide the next leader. Not any small group of people at Holyrood."

Nominations for the contest closed at noon with Mr Findlay, Mr Fraser and Ms Gallacher all securing the required backing of 100 members.

The ballot will close at 12pm on Thursday 26 September, with the winner announced the next day.

The party has organised eight hustings with the first due to take place in Renfrew on Saturday. A separate televised husting will be broadcast by STV on Monday.

Mr Greene told the audience in Perth he would take his own bid for the leadership no further, saying Mr Fraser is the only candidate with the “gumption” to turn things around for the party.

Mr Kerr had a similar message, saying the party must unite under a “strong, experienced and respected leader”.

In his own speech, Mr Fraser pitched himself as the candidate for change. 

He said: “These last few weeks have been immensely difficult for our party. Just last month we saw a General Election where our vote share slumped to the lowest it has ever been in our party’s history.

“We have seen a fractious leadership contest so far, with persistent anonymous briefings against candidates, including me and my colleagues here.

“We have also seen concerning claims being raised about the conduct of the Scottish leader in relation to interference in at least two candidate selections.

“The last few weeks have proven that real change is an absolute necessity. It is a matter of survival for our party.

“For too long in this party we have had too much power concentrated in too few hands, and now we see the effects of that. That has to change now.”

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.

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

Ms 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.

During an interview with the BBC’s Good Morning Scotland, Mr Findlay was asked about Mr Ross’s support and his attempt to replace Ms Robertson.

He said: “People who talk about this as if there is some sort of foregone conclusion haven’t been in my shoes for the past several weeks, where I have worked tirelessly to engage with members, to engage with councillors, to engage with parliamentary colleagues both at Holyrood and Westminster to persuade them about my offering as leader.

“The idea that all these people who have come out and supported me, parliamentary colleagues, councillors from across Scotland, are somehow in on some form of conspiracy is frankly not just ridiculous but also I think slightly offensive to them.

“These people can very well think for themselves.

“Douglas Ross is the only person who can speak for Douglas Ross, I’m not here to speak for Douglas Ross, I’m not here to defend what may or may not have happened.

“But I understand on the back of what has been reported and the concerns that have been raised there is going to be process where they look at that, both in terms of the circumstances around the conversation with Kathleen Robertson.

“That is going to be looked at.”

Responding to Mr Fraser's request that his opponents stand down, Lib Dem MP Wendy Chamberlain said: "At least Murdo is keen for the job, unlike Douglas Ross who has spent the last twelve months trying to get out of it.

"Maybe the Liberal Democrats have missed a trick. Perhaps we should have just asked our Tory opponents to stand aside rather than beating scores of them at the recent election."