The Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party is part of the UK Conservative Party active in Scotland. It currently 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 councillors.
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.
Unlike in the Parliament at Westminster where there is an Official Opposition to the government of the day, all parties in the Scottish Parliament that are not in government are all technically on the same footing as 'opposition parties'. With the Scottish National Party (SNP) currently in government, the Scottish Conservatives and Scottish Labour each have a shadow cabinet composed of Members of the Scottish Parliament (MSPs) and prospective parliamentary candidates.
Ruth Elizabeth Davidson, Baroness Davidson of Lundin Links,, is a Scottish politician who served as Leader of the Scottish Conservative Party from 2011 to 2019 and Leader of the Scottish Conservative Party in the Scottish Parliament from 2020 to 2021. She served as a Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for Glasgow from 2011 to 2016 and for Edinburgh Central from 2016 to 2021. She has been a member of the House of Lords since 2021. Davidson is co-host of Sky News podcast Electrical Dysfunction alongside Beth Rigby and Baroness Harman.
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.
Carol Ann "Annie" Wells is a British politician of the Scottish Conservatives, who served as Deputy Leader of the Scottish Conservative Party to Jackson Carlaw in 2020. She has served as a Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for the Glasgow region since 2016.
Douglas Gordon Ross is a Scottish politician who served as Leader of the Scottish Conservative Party from 2020 to 2024 and as Leader of the Opposition in the Scottish Parliament from 2021 to 2024. He served as Member of the UK Parliament (MP) for Moray from 2017 to 2024. Ross currently serves as a Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for the Highlands and Islands, having been elected as a regional list MSP in 2021. He was previously MSP for the region from 2016 to 2017.
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.
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.
Jamie Halcro Johnston is a British politician who is a Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for the Highlands and Islands region since 2017. A member of the Scottish Conservative Party, he also serves as their Shadow Minister for Business, Trade, Tourism and Enterprise.
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.
In the Scottish Parliament, the Leader of the Opposition is an unofficial title often used to describe the leader of the largest political party in the Scottish Parliament that is not in government. This leader has also been referred to as the Shadow First Minister.
While there is no Official Opposition in Holyrood, Jackson Carlaw, as leader of the largest party not in government, acts as the Leader of the Opposition. Carlaw was elected leader of the Scottish Conservatives in February 2020 and resigned in July 2020, and was succeeded by Douglas Ross.
While there is no Official Opposition in Holyrood, Ruth Davidson, as leader of the largest party not in government, acts as the Leader of the Opposition. She formed her shadow cabinet following the 2016 Scottish Parliament election, where the Scottish Conservatives replaced Scottish Labour as the largest non-governing party.
The 2024 Scottish Conservatives leadership election took place on 27 September 2024 after Douglas Ross announced his resignation on 10 June. Russell Findlay won the election and became Leader of the Scottish Conservative Party.
The Shadow Cabinet of Russell Findlay was formed on 8 October 2024, after the election of Russell Findlay as Leader of the Scottish Conservative Party on 27 September 2024. While there is no Official Opposition in Holyrood, Findlay, as leader of the largest party not in government, acts as the Leader of the Opposition.
