Findlay extends hand to Reform voters after poll

Scottish Tory leadership hopeful Russell Findlay has extended a hand to Reform UK voters after a poll suggested the party could win eight seats at Holyrood.

The Sunday Times poll by Norstat, which spoke to 1,011 Scots aged 16 and over between August 20 and 22, also suggested the Tories could drop from 31 seats to just 18 after the next election.

Writing in the Scottish Daily Mail, Mr Findlay said it would be “complacent” and “naive” to write off Nigel Farage’s party, which won 7% of the vote north of the border in last month’s election.

Voters backing Reform in Scotland was a “cry of frustration and a demand for change”, he said.

“The Scottish Conservatives need to fully reconnect with those traditional conservative values we share with most people who cast their votes for Reform at the general election,” he added.

“Our shared values of aspiration, ambition, opportunity, a just reward for hard work, the offer of a hand-up not a ‘handout’, effective law and order, and championing the stability of family life.”

The Scottish Tories, Mr Findlay continued, should focus on winning back the trust of those who backed Reform, rather than “vilify” them and recognise that they have “legitimate concerns which need to be addressed”.

“We need to only make promises we can keep, and we must in all instances deliver on those promises once they are made,” he said.

“We shouldn’t spend our time pondering how right-wing or not we should be, we just need the resolve to simply do what’s right.”

The comments come with just over a month left before Douglas Ross’s replacement is announced, as Mr Findlay takes on former deputy leader Meghan Gallacher and Murdo Fraser in a field which narrowed from six contenders in recent weeks.

Meanwhile, Mr Fraser has been backed by former foreign secretary Malcolm Rifkind.

The ex-minister, who served under Margaret Thatcher and John Major, said Mr Fraser was “able, has high integrity, speaks his mind and demonstrates strong leadership qualities”, according to the Daily Telegraph.