Russell Findlay yesterday said he was 'disappointed' with the Scottish Tory losses but vowed to continue as leader. His party saw its vote share plunge across the country and lost its position as the largest opposition party following mass losses.
Election Results
However, the Tories managed to hold their three 'blue wall' seats across the south of Scotland and held off the SNP in Aberdeenshire West. It was still their worst-ever Holyrood election result, finishing with 12 seats, a loss of 19. Reform UK, meanwhile, picked up 17 seats.
Among those losing their seats was former Scottish Tory leader Jackson Carlaw, who was defeated by the SNP in Eastwood.
Findlay's Response
Mr Findlay blamed Reform UK for many of its losses and said the party had helped the SNP in seats across the country. He told the Mail: 'This is not what we wanted, I am really disappointed to lose so many good colleagues from Holyrood, where we have been the only party with the professionalism and determination to stand up to the SNP.'
'What we have seen is what we warned would happen – many good candidates lost out to the SNP because of the Reform vote. Reform have split the Union vote, as we warned would happen, and as a direct result of Reform standing in many of these seats these constituencies will wake up to an SNP MSP, and I don't think that was the intention of anyone who voted for Reform.'
Mr Findlay was elected as a result of his position as number one Tory candidate on the West Scotland regional list, a result aided by Mr Carlaw's defeat in Eastwood due to the impact constituency results have on any party's regional list outcome.
Commitment to Leadership
Asked if he remained committed to the job as leader, he said: 'Absolutely. When Kemi and I took over we both knew there would be no quick fix – this was a long-term project.'
'It was just under two years ago that our party suffered a terrible election result and we knew that we had to rebuild public trust, we had to hold our hands up where we got things wrong and we had to come forward with ideas, show the people of Scotland and across the United Kingdom that we're on their side, understand there's problems, and we have serious and credible plans to improve things for people across the country, and that's what we are doing. It will be a slow and painful progress.'
Campaign and Future Plans
He said he believes the Tories ran a 'professional, positive and honest' campaign which highlighted a looming £5 billion gap in public finances and the out-of-control benefits bill, and said the other parties have tried to 'paper over the financial cracks'.
Mr Findlay said: 'The other parties might want to paper over the financial cracks but the reality is there is going to be a very imminent reckoning in Scotland's public finances and we will take no satisfaction from being able to say "we told you so". But from day one at Holyrood we will ensure we are standing up for hard-working taxpayers, supporting Scotland's business community and bringing the common sense that is so badly lacking from that place.'
Warning on Reform UK
He said he feared Reform's surge will help the SNP because 'Nigel Farage doesn't care about Scotland and he can't be trusted on the Union'. Condemning Reform's loss of nine candidates during the campaign, he said: 'These people aren't professional, they are not serious. Most of them are in it for themselves, our party, our MSPs, our candidates and activists are in it for the good of the country.'
'When people look at our track record over the past five years and beyond, they will see a party that was absolutely laser-focused on being an effective opposition to the SNP, curtailing some of their worst excesses such as gender self-ID, standing up for hard-working Scots. We did so – and will continue to do so with the utmost professionalism and determination.'
'The Reform rabble, whatever they might be – I'm not sure what they stand for, what they believe or whether they will even get on with one another – I strongly suspect we are going to see a pretty dysfunctional group and I suspect that will be a gift to John Swinney, because John Swinney from day one was very quick to recognise that the advent of Reform – the one-man band of Reform – was the greatest ever gift to the SNP in many a year.'
'We've already heard one senior Reform figure talking about shaking up the political Establishment. Well Reform are actually supporting the political Establishment, which is the SNP. They've not learned that lesson, we know that because we are the only people able to stand up to the SNP.'
