Former journalist Russell Findlay has been elected as Scottish Tory leader after a bitter contest dominated by vicious infighting. Findlay defeated fellow MSPs Murdo Fraser and Meghan Gallagher in a race that exposed the civil war engulfing the party.
He won 2,565 of the 4,155 valid votes cast, easily beating his rivals.
Scottish Labour deputy leader Jackie Baillie said Findlay had taken on the “job from hell”. She said: “This is a party deeply divided, mired in sleaze and out of ideas – and it will take more than a new face to fix that.”
The election was dominated by rows over the conduct of former leader Douglas Ross. He angered colleagues by trying to bail from Holyrood during the general election and quitting as leader days into the campaign.
Ross and senior party figures were also accused of favouring Findlay over the two other candidates.
Findlay was an investigations reporter at Scottish newspapers before leaving the trade to join the Tories as head of communications. He was then elected as an MSP for the West of Scotland and was appointed to justice positions by Ross.
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