Scottish Tories must be more than the party of no

Among the many challenges facing Scottish Tory leader Douglas Ross has been the question of definition. It is difficult to define yourself in the best of times, let alone in the middle of a pandemic. When, on top of this, your seat is in Westminster, and not the devolved parliament on which the Scottish media focuses their resources and priorities, it’s harder still to penetrate the public consciousness. No matter how often you try to get yourself in front of a TV camera, you can still feel like the Invisible Man.

Ross used his speech to the Scottish Conservative conference to narrate who he is and what he believes. There had already been a steady stream of image-softening to position him as an ordinary bloke, husband and harassed young parent, who, not content with leading the Scottish Tories, assistant-referees Old Firm matches in his spare time. There was more of that — references to his police sergeant wife, a toddler who enjoys interrupting dad’s speeches and another baby on the way — but there was also a noticeable shift onto policy.