Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Perthshire’s Murdo Fraser extends olive branch to Douglas Ross despite bitter Tory leadership fall-out

The veteran MSP signalled a place in his team for the outgoing boss at his official campaign launch in Perth.

Tory leadership hopeful Murdo Fraser. Image: PA
Tory leadership hopeful Murdo Fraser. Image: PA

Murdo Fraser is ready to welcome Douglas Ross back into the heart of the Scottish Tories if he is chosen to succeed him as leader.

The Mid Scotland and Fife MSP extended an olive branch to his current boss on the day fellow candidates Liam Kerr and Jamie Green dropped out of the contest to back his campaign.

It comes after party insiders claimed Mr Ross had lost the support of up to half of the Tories at Holyrood and could face an orchestrated campaign to force him out if he insists on staying on until a new leader is chosen.

A sorry chapter

Senior figures shone a light on the extraordinary civil war engulfing the Conservatives, with claims of leadership candidates planting “hit pieces” against each other and conspiracies over party staff interfering in campaigns.

Scottish Conservative leader Douglas Ross. Image: PA

At a campaign event in Perth, Mr Fraser was unexpectedly flanked by Mr Kerr and Mr Greene as he called on the two remaining contenders, Meghan Gallacher and Russell Findlay, to join him and “bring this sorry chapter to a close”.

“Come and join this team,” he said.

“Show our members and the country that we understand their frustration. That we have responded to their deep concerns.”

A way back for Douglas Ross?

Asked if there is room for Douglas Ross on his team – and in his shadow cabinet – if he is chosen as the next leader, Mr Fraser described the Highlands and Islands MSP as a friend and praised his record at Holyrood.

He added: “If Douglas wants to be a part of my team, I’d be delighted to have him.”

Mr Fraser said keeping the contest running as planned until September 27 risked the party sending five weeks shouting at each other “under a cloud of suspicion and impropriety”.

Meghan Gallacher and Russell Findlay.

However, Mr Findlay immediately rejected any chance of that, saying he is opposed to a coronation of himself or anyone else.

He added: “Our members should decide the next leader. Not any small group of people at Holyrood.”

Ms Gallacher has yet to respond to the call for her to drop out of the race.

Why are Greene and Kerr dropping out?

Mr Greene told the audience in Perth he is ending his own campaign because Mr Fraser is the only candidate with the “gumption” to turn things around for the party.

Mr Kerr had a similar message, saying the party must unite under a “strong, experienced and respected leader”.

In his own speech, Mr Fraser pitched himself as the candidate for change, borrowing a phrase from Kate Forbes’s SNP leadership bid – “continuity won’t cut it”.

He said: “The last few weeks have proven that real change is an absolute necessity. It is a matter of survival for our party.”

Conversation