Jackson Carlaw elected new Scottish Conservatives leader

14 February 2020, 10:58

Jackson Carlaw has been elected as the new Scottish Conservatives leader.

Mr Carlaw, who had been the interim leader since Ruth Davidson resigned last August, won with a 75.7 per cent majority.

The Eastwood MSP defeated Michelle Ballantyne by 4,917 votes to 1,581 in a poll of party members.

After the result he vowed that the Tories could now progress north of the border as "one united party".

The highly-charged contest saw the pair frequently trade insults, with Ms Ballantyne accusing him of running a general election campaign that "asked vision and ambition".

Mr Carlaw, the favourite in the race, responded by accusing the South of Scotland MSP of not never submitting a "single policy proposal" to Holyrood.

The Tories lost seven of 13 MPs in Scotland on December 12.

Mr Carlaw said on Friday that in backing him members had heralded a "decent, generous, spirited aspirational Conservatism" and promised to engage new voters ahead of next year's Scottish Parliament poll.