Scottish Tory leadership race: runners and riders

While contenders in the UK Tory leadership race ramp up their campaigns, north of the border the Scottish Conservative contest is just about to get started. Nominations for candidates to succeed outgoing leader Douglas Ross close on the 22 August at 12pm. Each leadership hopeful will need 100 party members to back them in order to formally stand before voting takes place next month – with the winner to be announced on 27 September. Initially six candidates declared they would run for the top job, however just before nominations closed, ex-athlete Brian Whittle announced he would, er, no longer run – and has now endorsed Murdo Fraser, alongside two other former leadership candidates Jamie Greene and Liam Kerr. With the race whittle-ing down to just three candidates, here is a list of Steerpike’s MSP runners and riders…

Russell Findlay (8): a former investigative journalist, the party’s current justice spokesperson was the first to announce his candidacy in a length piece in the Scottish Daily Mail.