Findlay: I will represent commonsense views of mainstream Scotland
Russell Findlay was elected leader of the Scottish Conservative Party on Friday.
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.The new Scottish Conservative leader will vow to represent the “commonsense views of mainstream Scotland” when he addresses his party’s conference on Sunday.
Russell Findlay, who replaced Douglas Ross as leader of the Scottish Tories on Friday, will tell the Conservative conference in Birmingham that the SNP’s “fixation” with fringe causes has seen them neglect “bread-and-butter issues”.
He will add that it has left the public disillusioned with politics and politicians.
My message is simple – enough of the nonsense. Stop playing to the minority and start governing for the majority. Focus on common sense, for a change
The West Scotland MSP, who was first elected to Holyrood in 2021, will also accuse Labour of standing “shoulder to shoulder” with the nationalists on policies that are “unwanted by ordinary Scots”.
He will say Labour’s support for measures like gender self-recognition, the hate crime ban and a ban on new North Sea exploration shows they cannot offer change.
The former reporter will tell the conference: “My message is simple – enough of the nonsense. Stop playing to the minority and start governing for the majority. Focus on common sense, for a change.”
He will add: “This leaves us – the Scottish Conservatives – as the sole voice in the Scottish Parliament speaking up for the common-sense views of mainstream Scotland.”
Responding, SNP MSP Jackie Dunbar said: “I guess it was Russell Findlay’s commonsense approach to politics that led him to back Liz Truss and her disastrous mini budget that crashed our economy.
“The Tories find themselves stuck dancing to the tune of dangerous fringe politicians like Nigel Farage as they shift further and further to the right. There is nothing the Tories’ establishment candidate in Scotland, Russell Findlay, is going to do to fix that.
“The SNP will focus on governing for the people of Scotland.”