The Scottish Conservatives, officially the Scottish Conservative & Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party that operates in Scotland. It is the second-largest party in the Scottish Parliament and Scottish local government. The party has the second largest number of Scottish MPs in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom.
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. Since May 2021, he has served as Shadow Cabinet Secretary for Covid Recovery, shadowing Deputy First Minister John Swinney.
David Jackson Carlaw is a Scottish politician who served as Leader of the Scottish Conservative Party from February to July 2020. 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. Shadow Cabinet ministers have a responsibility to shadow an individual government minister or a specific area of government. Other parties have frontbench teams with spokespersons covering multiple areas of government or which are composed of spokespersons from both within and outwith the Scottish Parliament.
The 2021 Scottish Parliament election took place on 6 May 2021, under the provisions of the Scotland Act 1998. All 129 Members of the Scottish Parliament were elected in the sixth election since the parliament was re-established in 1999. The election was held alongside the Senedd election, English local elections, London Assembly and mayoral election and the Hartlepool by-election.
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.
The 2011 Scottish Conservative Party leadership election was an internal party election to choose a new leader of the Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party, 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, after 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 Scottish Conservative politician 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 British politician who has served as Leader of the Scottish Conservative Party since 2020. He has served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Moray since 2017. In addition to his seat in Westminster, he serves as a Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for the Highlands and Islands having been elected in 2021. He was previously MSP for the region from 2016 to 2017.
Donald Andrew John Cameron MSP is a Scottish Conservative Party politician who has been a Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for the Highlands and Islands region since 2016. He served as the Scottish Conservative's Shadow Cabinet Secretary for Health and Sport from 2016 to 2017 and from 2020 to 2021.
Liam Kerr is a Scottish Conservative Party politician 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 Net Zero, Energy & Transport since 2021 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. A member of the Scottish Conservatives, he has served as Shadow Cabinet Secretary for Justice since 2021.
Rachael Georgina Hamilton is a Scottish Conservative Party politician who has served as the Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire since 2017. She was re-elected in 2021 with over 51% of the vote. She owns the Buccleuch Arms Hotel.
Michelle Lorraine Ballantyne is a British politician and former nurse who has been serving as Leader of Reform UK Scotland since 2021. She was a Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for the South Scotland region from 2017 to 2021.
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.
Events from the year 2020 in Scotland
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 UK 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 held by the leader of the largest political party in the Scottish Parliament that is not in government.
While there is no Official Opposition in Holyrood, Douglas Ross, as leader of the largest party not in government, he acts as the Leader of the Opposition. Ross was appointed leader of the Scottish Conservatives in August 2020, but was not a member of the Scottish Parliament, so Ruth Davidson served as the opposition leader until he was elected in the May 2021 election.
