Will the Scottish Tories form a new party?

To Scotland, where the Scottish Conservatives are facing problems of their own. North of the border, a leadership contest is looming after outgoing leader Douglas Ross announced his resignation mid-campaign. Since then there have been animated discussions about who his successor will be. And while contenders for the UK party are already making their mark, their Scottish counterparts look set for a fiery leadership race too.

Current justice spokesperson Russell Findlay MSP is seen by many as the obvious choice, and his colleague Rachael Hamilton has warmly endorsed him – but others in the party have expressed support for potential rival candidate Murdo Fraser. The MSP for the region of Mid Scotland and Fife made a leadership bid back in 2011 where he ran on a ‘renewal and change’ agenda, and was a firm advocate of separating the Scottish group from the UK party to create a new centre-right force. Despite receiving criticism from ex-MP Liam Fox and Conservative peer Lord Forsyth at the time, Mr S has heard whisperings that Fraser may be keen to resurrect the proposal now.