Potential Scottish Tory leadership candidate calls for loosening of ties with UK party
A senior Scottish Tory mooted as the next party leader has called for a commission to be set up to examine loosening links with the UK Conservatives.
Murdo Fraser said an experienced and “independent” party figure should lead the group, which would be charged with examining all the “potential ways forward”.
Writing in The Telegraph, he said this would include his suggestion of the Tories standing candidates in Scotland in UK general elections but a new centre-Right party fighting Holyrood elections.
Mr Fraser said the commission’s recommendations would then be put to a vote of Scottish Tory members to give them the final say over any changes.
Move would prevent party in-fighting
He argued that setting up an independent commission would prevent blue-on-blue in-fighting on the issue during the forthcoming contest to replace Douglas Ross as Scottish Tory leader.
It would also give members a say over what they want to happen rather than allowing the new leader to dictate his or her preference, he said, adding that the party had “suffered too much in the past from top-down decision making”.
Mr Fraser wrote that no changes would be made until after the 2026 Holyrood election, following criticism that immediately breaking links with the UK Conservatives would damage the party’s prospects in the contest.
The shadow business secretary stood unsuccessfully for the leadership against Ruth Davidson in 2011, when he called for the Scottish Tories to be replaced entirely with a new party.
Mr Fraser, who is weighing up another leadership bid, acknowledged that it was “too radical a step for most party members” and said he no longer thought it was the correct move.
Murdo Fraser is weighing up another bid to lead the Scottish Tories, after losing out to Ruth Davidson in 2011
However, he noted that potential candidates had already been expressing views on the issue, including front-runner Russell Findlay, who said earlier this month: “It makes sense to have a sensible review of the best relationship between the Scottish and UK outfit.”
Several other MSPs believe a breakaway party should be debated again following the UK Conservatives’ general election drubbing. Although their seat tally dropped by only one to five in Scotland, their vote share nearly halved, to 12.7 per cent.
Liam Kerr, the shadow education secretary, has warned that the Tories struggled to win more than 24 per cent of the popular vote even when the popular Ms Davidson was leader.
He said many felt that it was “unlikely” that the Scottish Tory “vehicle” would ever achieve power and also called for a new “Holyrood centre-Right party focused solely and exclusively on matters devolved to the Scottish Parliament”.
Party in a ‘dire position’
The UK’s most eminent polling expert has also suggested that the Scottish Tories may need to reconsider their relationship with the UK party if they want to be more than an “also-ran” at Holyrood.
Prof Sir John Curtice told The Herald on Sunday that the party was in a “dire position” and that there was a “big question” over how much a new leader in the Scottish Parliament could do to “repair the situation”.
However, allies of Mr Findlay, the only declared candidate so far, have lambasted Mr Fraser’s proposal for a new party to fight Holyrood elections.
Ms Davidson, who is now Baroness Davidson of Lundin Links, has also warned against any sort of split, saying that a “divided party is a short route to electoral suicide”.
Up to nine MSPs are considering standing for the Scottish Tory leadership, with the party’s management board meeting on Wednesday to decide the contest’s rules and timetable.
Party chiefs are keen to have Mr Ross’s successor in place in time for the UK Conservative conference at the end of September.
‘Divisive issue’
Mr Fraser said his proposal for a new party fighting Holyrood elections echoed the situation in Canada, where there is a “distinction” between parties fighting provincial and federal elections.
“While there is clearly a willingness to have this debate among leadership contenders, two things are clear. Firstly, this is a divisive issue amongst party members, with no clear consensus as to the way forward,” he wrote.
“Secondly, even if there was an appetite for change, it is simply impractical to suggest that this could be done in a realistic and credible fashion in time for the 2026 Holyrood elections, just 21 months away.
“So I would suggest that rather than make this the focus of the leadership campaign, instead we establish a commission under a suitably experienced and senior independent party figure, who would look at all these issues and come back and report in due course on the pros and cons of potential ways forward, to be implemented after 2026. This would allow a detailed examination of all the issues, and allow all members to have their say.”
Mr Fraser also said the party should review current rules that mean the Scottish leader theoretically has authority over all Tory MPs and MSPs north of the border.
Raising the theoretical prospect of a Scottish Tory MP becoming prime minister, he said it was “for the birds” that they would take orders from Mr Ross’s successor.
A much-needed breakaway from the old routine
By Murdo Fraser
Every time there is a discussion about the future of the Scottish Conservatives, the question of our relationship with the UK party features.
It is legitimate to discuss why Scotland seems to be the only country in the Western world where the sole party of the centre-Right attracts such paltry support, particularly relevant in a context where, in this month’s general election, we slumped to our lowest vote share in history, of just 12.7 per cent.
Candidates and potential candidates for the party leadership have already been expressing their views on this matter. My colleague Liam Kerr MSP has said that this is a debate that needs to be revisited.
Last week, another colleague, Jamie Greene, wrote: “There is no doubt in my mind whatsoever that the Scottish Conservatives need to renegotiate their partnership with the party south of the border.”
And the only declared candidate thus far, Russell Findlay MSP, has stated: “It makes sense to have a sensible review of the best relationship between the Scottish and UK outfit.”
When I stood for the Scottish Conservative leadership in 2011, I proposed a model akin to that which exists in Germany between the Christian Democrats and the Christian Social Union in Bavaria, of two distinct parties in a permanent coalition in the UK Parliament.
While that idea attracted substantial support at the time, it was too radical a step for most party members.
In the intervening period, I have reflected on the position and am no longer convinced that the Bavarian model is the correct one.
I do think it is important that people in all parts of the United Kingdom have the opportunity to vote for the party that will form the UK government. And there should be no barrier to MPs elected as Scottish Conservatives playing a full part in the government of the UK.
There are, however, other models that could be looked at, such as the situation in Canada, with a distinction between the parties operating at a federal level and those fighting provincial elections.
‘Best of both worlds’
This potentially gives a “best of both worlds” scenario, with two parallel, sister parties each focusing on their own strengths. It works well in Quebec, where we have seen the separation movement slide in support in recent years.
While there is clearly a willingness to have this debate among leadership contenders, two things are clear. First, this is a divisive issue among party members, with no clear consensus as to the way forward.
Second, even if there were an appetite for change, it is simply impractical to suggest that this could be done in a realistic and credible fashion in time for the 2026 Holyrood elections, just 21 months away.
So I would suggest that rather than make this the focus of the leadership campaign, instead we establish a commission under a suitably experienced and senior independent party figure, who would look at all these issues and come back and report in due course on the pros and cons of potential ways forward, to be implemented after 2026. This would allow a detailed examination of all the issues, and allow all members to have their say.
Crucially, this would avoid the impression that these matters are for any one individual to determine. The Scottish Conservative Party has suffered too much in the past from top-down decision making. Any questions of structural change are ones for the membership as a whole, not just the leader.
Relationships with the UK party aside, there are clearly other aspects of the party constitution that need to be looked at by any commission. Under current rules, the Scottish leader has authority over the entire party, MPs as well as MSPs. While this is the legal position, it simply does not reflect practice.
In theory, a future Scottish Conservative MP achieving the office of prime minister would be under the authority of whichever MSP is Scottish leader. The notion that, say, Prime Minister Bowie would take orders from Scottish leader Kerr at Holyrood is for the birds.
An issue that needs to be looked at
We also need to see a much-enhanced role for senior volunteers. Until the most recent set of constitutional changes, there was a position of deputy chairman directly elected by the Tory membership; a position of authority which attracted senior figures including former MPs such as Bill Walker and George Kynoch. I would like to see such a position recreated to give the grass-roots membership a stronger say in the running of the party.
With those potentially fighting to be leader all agreeing that this is an issue that needs to be looked at, I will be asking all those declaring a candidacy to commit to the establishment of a constitutional review, to consider these matters carefully and in full consultation with the membership, in the interests of party unity.
Ultimately, the forthcoming leadership election needs to be a battle of ideas about how we best face our current challenges, not least the twin threats of a resurgent Labour Party and the emergence of Reform UK.
What we stand for is always going to be more important than what we stand as. Let us have that positive debate that the party now needs.
Murdo Fraser is a Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party MSP and shadow business secretary
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