Russell Findlay’s win “puts to bed any suggestion that the party might fracture,” the frontrunner in the Tory leadership contest has said.

Speaking to Scottish journalists at the party’s conference in Birmingham, Robert Jenrick said the ex-journalist's victory over Murdo Fraser and Meghan Gallacher last week, means the Tories “can display our commitment to unionism by being a single united party representing all four nations of the UK.”

He said he wanted to have “the most constructive and productive relationship with Scottish Conservatives".

“I was the first of the leadership contenders to go up to Scotland and to meet members of the party in Ayrshire and in Glasgow, and I'm going to be going back up very soon. I was the first to pick up the phone to Russell Findlay and congratulate him on becoming Scottish leader, and to offer him all my support if I'm lucky enough to lead the national party, so we can work together as one united team.”

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Asked if he would like to see Douglas Ross return to the Commons, Mr Jenrick said he was sorry to see the ex-Scottish party boss leave at the last election.

“That was his own decision at the time. If he wants to come back, then, of course, I'd be happy for him to return, but that's a matter for him and for the for the local association, where he choose to stand.”

Mr Jenrick — who served in the governments of Boris Johnson, Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak — said that under the SNP, Scottish politics had, at times, “been chaotic".

“But more importantly than that, public services in Scotland are not performing well on most measures,” he aded. “Public Services are performing worse than they are in England, and that is what concerns me and my Conservative colleagues in Scotland.”

His rival in the contest, James Cleverly also praised Mr Findlay and hit out at the SNP, saying Scots and Scotland “deserve so much better".

“I spent a year living in the Dee Valley between Balater and Aboyne and I love Scotland, and I'm a mixed race kid from South East London, but it's a fantastic place, amazing people, the home of so much innovation and energy.

“And what do we see the SNP government do? Throttle it, tax it too aggressively and take their position for granted. The mismanagement, the controversy, the arrogance. This has hurt Scots so hard, and we have got to get back on the front foot as the Conservatives right across the country, particularly in Scotland, to give Scots a genuine choice of a better government of the next election.”

Asked for his first impressions of Mr Findlay — who was named as the new Scottish Tory leader last Friday — he said: “Oh, what a guy. Incredibly impressive CV, a natural leader.

“I think he showed huge physical and moral courage.

“I think he is exactly the kind of person that will inspire confidence in Conservatism in Scotland and beyond.”

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The two men vying to replace Rishi Sunak were speaking to journalists after they and rivals Kemi Badenoch and Tom Tugendhat addressed the party faithful. 

The four hopefuls closed the conference, divvying up the slot normally reserved for the party leader. 

In his speech, Mr Cleverly said the party needed to be “more normal” to win back voters.

“Let’s be enthusiastic, relatable, positive, optimistic," he said.

Mr Tugendhat pledged a “new Conservative revolution".

He also warned his party that tackling migration was not simple. 

“A cap alone won’t work,” he said. “This is about visas, not about foreign courts.

“Let me tell you something that my opponents probably won’t – this isn’t simple.

“We issued the visas because businesses need the staff for our care homes and our hospitals, to look after our families.

“So how do we square this circle? Well, we need to fix migration by fixing the gaps in education and skills, in transport and in housing, so that we can recruit at home and not abroad.”

Mr Jenrick called for a “new Conservative Party” and promised “an effective freeze in net migration”.

Ms Badenoch said told delegates that in government, the Conservatives “did not always keep our promises”.

“We promised to lower taxes, they went up. We promised to lower immigration, it went up. Why? Because the Treasury said high immigration was good for the economy, but we knew it was not good for our country,” she said.

Tory MPs will next week whittle the four candidates down to two with members then picking their favourite. The result will be announced on 2 November.