DOUGLAS Ross will still be leader of the Scottish Conservatives at Christmas, the chairman of the party has insisted.

Craig Hoy spoke out after newspaper article over the weekend suggested growing discontent among Tory MSPs over Mr Ross's leadership.

But in an interview on Monday Mr Hoy dismissed the reports.

"I've been around the media and politics for a long time. There are always these mutterings. By the time they get into the newspapers they are blown out of all proportion.

"Douglas Ross in 2021 secured a record number of votes for the Scottish Conservatives and maintained a record number of seats," he told BBC Radio Scotland's Good Morning Scotland.

"And he, like me and the party at Holyrood are focussed on holding the SNP to account."

Asked if Douglas Ross will still be leader by Christmas, Mr Hoy replied: "Absolutely Douglas Ross will still be leader by Christmas."

The MSP went on to say that Liz Truss would still be leading the UK party at Christmas.

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

It reported that 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 from chief whip 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 the source 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.”