Scottish Tory leader Russell Findlay says people can see his party is changing after a recent Stirling by-election saw it pushed into fourth place behind the SNP, Labour and Reform.
In an interview with The Courier, Mr Findlay said people could see his party was changing under his and new UK leader Kemi Badenoch’s “new management”.
Reform secured more than twice the number in the Bannockburn by-election on January 23.
Mr Findlay’s party picked up just over 10% of first preference votes, while Nigel Farage’s Reform UK secured 22.7%.
The area, which forms party of the Stirling Westminster constituency, backed the Scottish Conservatives as recently as the 2017 election.
Russell Findlay: Tories given a kicking over failures
Asked why voters appeared to be opting for Reform over the Tories, Mr Findlay said his party had received a “kicking” at the general election “due to a lot of their failures and their inability to deliver certain things”.
“That explains a lot about why Reform did what they did during that election and I think still there’s a slight disillusionment towards politics generally,” he added.
But is Mr Findlay – who took over the leadership of his party in September – disappointed with results like those in Bannockburn, which suggest voters are still opting for Reform?
He said: “Yes there’s been by-elections where we would much rather have seen more votes.
“I think any political party would say that. But in some of these by-elections, the turnout was incredibly low.”
Turnout in the Stirling by-election dropped to 20%, with just over 1,500 votes cast.
He added: “We won four council by-elections in the north-east not so long ago, we saw off the Reform threat.
“We were told Reform would do better than they did.
“And people saw that our party is changing and kept our faith in us. Same in Edinburgh recently, there was a by-election where Reform were pretty much nowhere because our message got through that we get it and we’re on people’s side.”
Tories ‘under new management’
Mr Findlay said his party was “under new management”.
He added: “I understand why people are scunnered and disillusioned. I’m not a career politician.
“I desperately want to fix Scotland for the better. And the best way we can do that is removing the SNP from power and a vote for Reform isn’t going to achieve that.”
But early polling for the Scottish Parliament election in 2026 suggests Scots are still to be convinced.
A recent survey by Find Out Now on behalf of the Sunday Herald suggested that if held today, the election would see the SNP secure 31% of vote.
Labour’s support was projected at at 19% while the Conservatives would be pushed into fourth place on 12% – behind Reform on 13%.
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