Ross under pressure as Scots Tories' 'frustration' mounts

FRUSTRATION is mounting among some Scottish Tories with the leadership of the UK party after a disastrous week sparked by the Chancellor’s mini budget, The Herald on Sunday has learnt.

As the Conservative annual conference gets underway this weekend in Birmingham senior insiders in Scotland have voiced their concerns over the troubles at the top of the party in London.

They say members were hoping for calm following the turmoil in Boris Johnson’s government, but the party is now facing an even bigger crisis with Liz Truss at the helm.

Sottish Conservative MSPs were split on who to back to succeed Johnson, though party leader Douglas Ross did not reveal who he supported.

Among those who supported Truss were Finlay Carson, Sharon Downey, Murdo Fraser, Rachael Hamilton, Liam Kerr, Stephen Kerr, Douglas Lumsden, Oliver Mundell and Graham Simpson.

Ahead of the hustings in Perth Mr Fraser said: “I’m backing Liz Truss....Consistent opinion polling shows that she is the candidate better placed to defeat Keir Starmer at the next general election.”

Meanwhile, Donald Cameron, Maurice Golden, Jeremy Balfour, former MSP Dean Lockhart, Miles Briggs and Liz Smith declared their support for Sunak. Ms Smith stated at the time: “I am voting for Sunak as l think his economic policies, especially those to enhance productivity and growth and prevent increasing national debt, are based on the sound money approach which l support.”

After Kwasi Kwarteng's tax-slashing and uncosted mini budget caused the value of the pound to drop, expectations of interest rates hikes and the Bank of England to step in with a package to save pension funds an opinion poll last week gave Labour a historic lead over the Conservatives.

It showed Sir Keir Starmer’s party had a 33-point lead over the Tories, the biggest gap since the 1990s, with many commentators believing it would be impossible for the Conservatives to recover before the next general election in 2024.

Mr Ross’s exasperation at the economic chaos caused by the Chancellor's budget appeared to be evident after First Minister’s Questions in Holyrood last Thursday.

In the chamber the Scottish Tory leader pressed Nicola Sturgeon over claims in a BBC Scotland documentary focusing on the long running ferry fiasco which suggested that the awarding of the £97m contract to Ferguson Marine may have been “rigged”.

Ms Sturgeon rejected the accusation, stating ministers were not involved, they were not aware of any impropriety, and their job was to save employment at the yards.

But she went onto attack Mr Ross over the mini-budget.

Mr Ross then found himself doorstepped by the media outside the Holyrood chamber to ask for his views on developments relating to UK government decisions.

Asked if he had complete confidence in Ms Truss and the Chancellor, he said: “Yes. I have confidence that the Chancellor and the Prime Minister are doing everything they can to respond to the reaction that we’ve seen from the Bank of England and the markets.”

However, asked if Mr Sunak had been right along, Mr Ross said: “We’ve seen what Rishi said during the campaign, and he predicted a lot of what has happened.

"Clearly there was a difference of opinion between Rishi and Liz over the course of the entire election campaign, and the members supported Liz, and she’s taken forward at her plans as Prime Minister.” 

The episode echoed previous occasions when Mr Ross was doorstepped by reporters after FMQs about the former PM and partygate.

Asked whether there was frustration over the new crisis so soon after the party had to contend with Mr Johnson’s scandals, one source said: “I suppose that is the case. In some ways it’s probably the case with the wider UK party too. The same themes probably apply.” 

Mr Ross's response to journalists citing Sunak's warnings over Truss's economic plans is echoed by others. 

“I’ll be interested to see what the mood at conference is like. I’m heading there, but a lot of Rishi supporters, including Rishi himself, will not be there,” said one Scottish Conservative who voted for Sunak.

“So the vast number of people in Birmingham will be Liz Truss supporters. But I am going anyway and I’ll see what happens.”

The insider added: “Scrapping the top rate of tax wouldn’t be top of my list if I was asked for my top five things to lobby for. I’ve never had a problem with paying more tax to help the NHS, though of course it’s not happening in Scotland...but I am nervous about interest rates.

“So I am a bit nervous and I want them to articulate better both to the public and to the markets what their rationale is.

"So I’m not going to conference gung ho, I am going nervous. Liz Truss won the leadership election, she has my support as the elected leader of the party and Prime Minister. I want to see what she is planning on doing re Scotland.”

Despite the turmoil it would seem there is no fresh demand for a breakaway party.
“I haven’t heard any talk about that recently,” said another figure.

“But maybe the thinking is there are bigger questions around than the future of the Scottish Tory party.”

Meanwhile, Mr Ross's position as leader is looking more precarious.

The Times reported yesterday that at least two separate moves against Mr Ross are being considered, although they are at an early stage. 

One group is understood to have been holding off on making any significant moves until next year but the fallout from the “clusterf***” of the UK mini-budget has accelerated the plotting.

Discreet conversations have been held and many MSPs have been asked if they have an interest in succeeding Mr Ross. The problem for the agitators is that they cannot yet agree on an obvious candidate.

“The MSPs are not convinced there’s anyone [to replace Ross] but a lot of people are unhappy and I think if someone challenged it would crumble,” a source told The Times.

An insider told The Herald on Sunday there are still ongoing concerns over his leadership after the hiring of a staffer who claimed to have worked former Scottish Labour leader Jim Murphy. 

Mr Ross described new team member Craig Paterson as having an “extensive knowledge of Scottish politics” who had once been “a key part of Scottish Labour’s operations”. 

However, the party was forced to withdraw the offer after Mr Murphy denied he had ever worked with Mr Paterson.

One source said that while the Paterson situation is currently eclipsed by the economic turmoil over the budget, the episode has not “gone away”. 

Asked whether there were questions over whether Mr Ross would remain as leader following the Craig Paterson appointment saga, the insider said: “I don’t think it would be an exaggeration to see it in those terms. It went down very badly, very badly."

Alongside the Paterson issue, the Scottish Conservative leader has had to deal with the resignation of some of his most senior aides.

Almost all of Ross’s senior staff, including his chief of staff, director of communications and head of digital, will leave after the UK Tory conference in Birmingham.

And he was also forced to carry out a mini reshuffle with former chief whip Stephen Kerr moved to the education brief following the decision by Oliver Mundell to step down from that role for personal reasons.

“Appointments and so on probably don’t cross the radar of the wider party but as far as MSPs were concerned it was a very damaging incident," said the insider who said the leadership has been overshadowed by the crisis surrounding Liz Truss "for now".

But he added: "In the climate of money being spent to prop up pensions, a situation regarding the appointment of a member of staff in Holyrood doesn’t quite hit the radar but it’s certainly the case that the situation was very damaging.

“Other things have now taken over and in terms of Douglas Ross it’s now a matter of a watching brief.”

A Scottish Conservative spokesman said: “Douglas is focused on holding the SNP to account and tackling the cost of living crisis.”