Michael Stephen Matheson is a Scottish politician who has been a Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) since 1999, first representing the Central Scotland region and, since 2007, the Falkirk West constituency. Matheson previously served in the Scottish government as Cabinet Secretary for NHS Recovery, Health and Social Care from 2023 to 2024, Cabinet Secretary for Net Zero, Energy and Transport from 2018 to 2023, and Cabinet Secretary for Justice from 2014 to 2018.
Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk is a constituency of the British House of Commons, located in the south of Scotland within the Scottish Borders council area. It elects one Member of Parliament (MP) at least once every five years using the first-past-the-post system of voting. Since 2017 the MP has been John Lamont of the Conservative Party.
Scottish Labour, is the part of the UK Labour Party active in Scotland. Ideologically social democratic and unionist, it holds 22 of 129 seats in the Scottish Parliament and 37 of 57 Scottish seats in the House of Commons. It is represented by 262 of the 1,227 local councillors across Scotland. The Scottish Labour party has no separate Chief Whip at Westminster.
The Scottish Conservative & Unionist Party is part of the UK Conservative Party active in Scotland. It holds 5 of the 57 Scottish seats in the House of Commons, 31 of the 129 seats in the Scottish Parliament, and comprises 209 of Scotland's 1,227 local councilors.
Murdo MacKenzie Fraser is a Scottish politician who served as Deputy Leader of the Scottish Conservative Party from 2005 to 2011. He has been a Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for the Mid Scotland and Fife region since 2001. As of 2024, he serves as Shadow Cabinet Secretary for Business, Economic Growth and Tourism, shadowing Deputy First Minister Kate Forbes.
David Jackson Carlaw is a Scottish politician who served as Leader of the Scottish Conservative Party from February to July 2020, having acted in the position since August 2019. He previously served as Deputy Leader of the Scottish Conservative Party from 2011 to 2019. He has been a Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) since 2007, first as an additional member for the West Scotland region and later for the Eastwood constituency since 2016.
John Robert Lamont is a Scottish Conservative Party politician and solicitor who has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk since 2017 and Shadow Secretary of State for Scotland since July 2024. Lamont previously served as the Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for Roxburgh and Berwickshire, later Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire after boundary changes, from 2007 to 2017. He served as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Scotland between October 2022 to July 2024.
Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire is a constituency of the Scottish Parliament (Holyrood) covering part of the council area of Scottish Borders. It elects one Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) by the plurality method of election. It is also one of nine constituencies in the South Scotland electoral region, which elects seven additional members, in addition to the nine constituency MSPs, to produce a form of proportional representation for the region as a whole.
The 2011 Scottish Conservatives leadership election was an internal party election to choose a new leader of the Scottish Conservatives, who at the time were the third-largest political party in the devolved Scottish Parliament. Ruth Davidson was declared the winner of the contest on 4 November 2011 and succeeded Annabel Goldie. The election was triggered when incumbent party leader Annabel Goldie resigned her position on 9 May 2011, following her party's self-described 'disappointing' result in the 2011 Scottish Parliament election, where the Conservatives were reduced from 17 seats to 15.
Paul Richard William Wheelhouse is a former Scottish National Party (SNP) politician who served as Minister for Energy, Connectivity and the Islands from 2018 to 2021. He was a Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for the South Scotland region from 2011 until 2021 and Minister for Business, Innovation and Energy in the Scottish Government from May 2016 to June 2018.
Calum Robert Kerr is a Scottish National Party politician who was the Member of Parliament for Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk from 2015 to 2017. During his tenure in Parliament, he was the SNP's Environment and Rural Affairs spokesperson in the House of Commons.
Donald Andrew John Cameron of Lochiel, Baron Cameron of Lochiel is a Scottish Conservative politician and life peer who served as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Scotland from February to July 2024. He was elected a member of the Scottish Parliament for the electoral region of the Highlands and Islands in 2016, serving in various roles in the Conservative shadow cabinet before his appointment to the House of Lords in 2024. Cameron succeeded his father as the 28th Lochiel, the hereditary chief of Clan Cameron, in 2023.
Liam Kerr is a British politician of the Scottish Conservative Party, who served as Deputy Leader of the Scottish Conservative Party from 2019 to 2020 and as the Scottish Conservatives’ Shadow Cabinet Secretary for Justice from 2017 to 2021. Kerr has served as Shadow Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills since 2023 and as a Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for the North East Scotland region since 2016.
Jamie Gillan Greene is a Scottish politician who is a Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for the West Scotland region from 2016. He is a member of the Scottish Conservatives.
Dean Lockhart is a Scottish former politician who was the convener of the net zero, energy and transport committee in the Scottish Parliament from 2021 to 2022. A member of the Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party, he was a member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for the Mid Scotland and Fife region from 2016 to 2022.
The 2017 Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire by-election was a by-election held on 8 June 2017 for the Scottish Parliament constituency of Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire. It was triggered by the resignation of John Lamont.
Michelle Lorraine Ballantyne is a British property developer, former politician and nurse who served as Leader of Reform UK Scotland from January 2021 to February 2022. She was a Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for the South Scotland region from 2017 to 2021, having been elected for the Scottish Conservatives.
The February 2020 Scottish Conservative Party leadership election was the fourth internal party election to elect the next leader of the Scottish Conservatives, part of the British Conservative Party and the second-largest political party in the devolved Scottish Parliament. Ruth Davidson, who won the previous leadership election in 2011, resigned on 29 August 2019. Two candidates contested the election: Jackson Carlaw MSP, who served as the Scottish Conservatives' interim leader, and Michelle Ballantyne MSP. Carlaw was seen as the favourite in the contest, and won the endorsement of most of the party's MSPs and MPs. Carlaw won the election on 14 February 2020, winning more than three-quarters of the votes of party members.
The August 2020 Scottish Conservative Party leadership election was the fifth internal party election to elect the next leader of the Scottish Conservatives, part of the British Conservative Party and the second-largest political party in the devolved Scottish Parliament.
The 2024 Scottish Conservatives leadership election will take place in 2024 after Douglas Ross announced his resignation on 10 June.
