Annabel MacNicoll Goldie, Baroness Goldie is a Scottish politician and life peer who served as Leader of the Scottish Conservative Party from 2005 to 2011 and has served as Minister of State for Defence since 2019. She was a Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP), as one of the additional members for the West Scotland region, from 1999 to 2016.
The Scottish Conservative & Unionist Party, often known simply as the Scottish Conservatives and colloquially as the Scottish Tories, is a centre-right political party in Scotland. It is the second-largest party in the Scottish Parliament and the third-largest in Scottish local government. The party has the second-largest number of Scottish MPs in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom and the seventh overall.
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.
Elaine Kildare Murray is a retired Scottish Labour politician. She was leader of Dumfries and Galloway Council for the 2017–2022 term. She was also the Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for Dumfries from 1999 to 2011, and then for Dumfriesshire from 2011 to 2016. At the 1999, 2003 and 2007 elections, Murray increased her percentage share of the vote. She was Shadow Minister for the Environment in the Scottish Parliament. She lost her seat in 2016.
David Jackson Carlaw is a Scottish politician who served as Leader of the Scottish Conservative Party from 2019 to 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.
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 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, 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 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.
Miles Edward Frank Briggs is a British politician of the Scottish Conservative, who has served as a regional list Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for the Lothian region since the 2016 Scottish Parliament election. He served as the Scottish Conservative Shadow Cabinet member for Health and Sport from 2017 to 2020 and as the Scottish Conservative Chief Whip from 2020 to 2021.
Douglas Gordon Ross is a Scottish 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 politician of the Scottish Conservative Party, who has been a Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for the Highlands and Islands region since 2016. He currently serves as the Scottish Conservative's Shadow Cabinet Secretary for the Constitution, External Affairs and Culture since May 2021.
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.
Michelle Lorraine Ballantyne is a British politician and former 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.
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 held by the leader of the largest political party in the Scottish Parliament that is not in government. The role has also been referred to as the Shadow First Minister.
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.
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.
