We do not leave pitch when it gets tough, Russell Findlay says after MSP quits

Scottish Tory leader Russell Findlay has said his party will not “leave the pitch” when things get tough after he lost a second MSP in the first year of his tenure.

Jeremy Balfour announced last week he was leaving the party to sit as an Independent, criticising Mr Findlay’s leadership and saying the Tories have “fallen into the trap of reactionary politics”, with policy “dictated by what other parties are saying and chasing cheap headlines”.

He also took issue with the party’s stance on Scotland’s benefits bill, accusing the leadership of backing a “blind slashing of budgets which will put those in most need at highest risk”.

Mr Findlay made his first speech since Mr Balfour quit in front of activists in Glasgow on Monday, where he took aim at the “performative” Scottish Parliament, striking a more populist tone as his party attempts to face down the surge from Nigel Farage’s Reform UK ahead of May’s Holyrood election.

Addressing the resignation of the Lothian region MSP from the Scottish Tories, the party leader said he was “obviously disappointed”.

“Jeremy’s expressed concern about Scotland’s social security benefits: he believes that benefits should rise, our party has recognised that it’s unsustainable and unaffordable, so I can’t agree with him on that point,” he said.

“I also can’t agree in respect of policy development – we are working tirelessly to bring forward proper, conservative policies, rooted in our values and that’s a process which every MSP is part of.

“It’s only by doing so, it’s only by talking to the public about what we would do differently, about why Scotland needs to change, that we can hope to remove the SNP.

“That’s why everyone in this room and everyone I’ve been speaking to all summer understand the seriousness of that.

“Just because things are tough, doesn’t mean that we leave the pitch. We have to re-double our efforts because what we stand for is correct.”

The 25-minute speech in Glasgow’s Trades Hall on Monday was billed as an announcement of Tory plans to give more powers to local councils and communities.

However, Mr Findlay – having derided ministers for making statements in Holyrood which are “light on detail” – said the proposals would be laid out in a policy paper to be released “in due course”.

He said local councils would see bigger budgets under a Tory-led Scottish Government, as well as an end to ring-fencing – where ministers provide cash to authorities with instructions on how it is spent – and the devolution of more power to council chambers.