Jackson Carlaw admits he has ‘genuine concerns’ that the contentious leadership contest could see members not unite behind the next leader of Scottish Conservative Party.
Tensions have risen once again in recent days with contender and former deputy leader Meghan Gallacher making a complaint to the party about one of its own MPs.
The complaint is understood to revolve around an accusation that Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk MP John Lamont threatened her career.
The candidate is reported to have been concerned she would be de-selected ahead of the Holyrood election in 2026 after the call.
Mr Lamont – who has announced his support for Russell Findlay in the contest – strongly denied the allegations, which he described as “defamatory and false” and added: “I am now considering further action including legal options.”
In the wake of the tensions, former leader Mr Carlaw told the Daily Telegraph he is worried the party may struggle to come together behind the leader after the contest, which also includes MSP Murdo Fraser.
Read More:
- Scottish Tory leadership race marred by 'sexist undertones,' says Meghan Gallacher
-
Ruth Davidson backs Russell Findlay for Scottish Tory leader
-
Scottish Tory candidates admit they need to stand up to UK party for Holyrood success
“There is genuine, genuine concern that the party is going to find it very difficult to come together after this leadership election, which we all have to do, because we have three excellent candidates,” he said.
“One of them will be elected leader. But the atmosphere is now becoming so toxic that I am appealing to people as a former leader, and as the oldest Conservative MSP, as someone who has not declared for any of the candidates, who is not tribally aligned, for people to wind their necks in now and allow the balance of this election to be conducted without further rancour and to be prepared to work together on the other side of it.”
He added: “That is not going to be the basis on which we can all pull together in a relatively short period of time to fight a major election where we’re the only party who are actually saying anything distinct or different, and where there has to be a proper alternative put to the people of Scotland.”
The former leader said it is “absolutely incumbent” on members to “stop this now”.
In a post on X, formerly Twitter, on Monday, Mr Fraser described Mr Carlaw’s intervention as “wise words”.
“The sexism, misogynistic bullying, threats of legal action and constant blue-on-blue attacks we have seen must end,” he said.
“Our members and supporters are rightly angered by this behaviour. This needs to be a contest of ideas and vision.”
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