Ruth Davidson has sparked a Tory feud after blocking former Gordon MP Colin Clark from returning to front line politics.
The former minister, who took Alex Salmond’s seat at the 2017 general election, had his application to stand for the Tories at May’s Holyrood elections rejected by Ms Davidson’s candidate committee.
In their rejection letter to Mr Clark, the committee said the former MP had “a poor record working with others” and was guilty of a “lack of campaigning”.
Mr Clark said he has been left “shocked” by the decision – given he was encouraged to stand by Scottish Tory leader Douglas Ross and several former Cabinet colleagues.
He told us: “I was absolutely stunned when they turned me down. Having previously won the support of local members and Conservative voters, the committee’s decision feels very political.
“I supported Boris Johnson to be the Conservative leader and backed Brexit at Westminster.
“Douglas Ross, when he became leader, suggested I stand for Holyrood. Douglas has a difficult job to do and this argument was simply not necessary.
“Unionists should not be disunited going into the election. Disagreements about Boris Johnson and Brexit should be in the past.”
Mr Clark said the reasons for rejecting his candidacy were “inaccurate”, adding: “Having been a minister in Boris Johnson’s Government, a senior Whip, fought in six elections in four years, worked tirelessly to promote Gordon and increased the Conservative vote in 2019, I believed I had earned my party’s support.
“I had hoped to serve the north east at Holyrood but a committee of four deemed I was not suitable and without recourse.
“It feels very personal and very political.”
‘He managed to fall out with most of the party’
A Scottish Conservative Party spokesman said: “We won’t comment on internal party selection processes.”
A party source added: “It’s a fact that the Scottish Conservatives were the only party in the Scottish Parliament to respect the result of the Brexit vote and support the UK-EU deal.
“Colin was elected on the back of Ruth Davidson’s impact and the Scottish Conservatives‘ clear message to stop another divisive referendum.
“As most people would acknowledge, Colin was not a good campaigner. In just two years, he managed to fall out with most of the party.
“Ruth was tasked with creating a Scottish Conservative team ready to take the fight to the nationalists and stop their push for indyref2 this year.”