Scottish Conservatives

"Scottish Tories" redirects here. For the pre-1965 Tory political parties, see Unionist Party (Scotland) and Tory (British political party).

Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party Pàrtaidh Tòraidheachd na h-Alba Scots Conservative an Unionist Pairty
Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Leader	Ruth Davidson MSP
Chairman	Rab Forman MBE, WS
Deputy leader	Jackson Carlaw MSP
Founded	1965 (1965)
Headquarters	67 Northumberland Street Edinburgh EH3 6JG
Youth wing	Conservative Future Scotland
Membership	11,000
Ideology	Conservatism Scottish unionism Economic liberalism Soft euroscepticism Centrism
Political position	Centre-right
National affiliation	Conservative Party
European affiliation	Alliance of European Conservatives and Reformists
European Parliament group	European Conservatives and Reformists
International affiliation	International Democrat Union
Colours	Blue
House of Commons (Scottish seats)	1 / 59
Scottish Parliament	15 / 129
European Parliament	1 / 6
Local government in Scotland	111 / 1,223
Website
www.scottishconservatives.com
Politics of Scotland Political parties Elections

The Scottish Conservatives (Scottish Gaelic: Pàrtaidh Tòraidheachd na h-Alba; Scots: Scots Conservative an Unionist Pairty; officially the Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party and informally the Scottish Tories, is the section of the United Kingdom Conservative Party that operates in Scotland. It describes itself as a centre-right political party. It is the third largest party in both the devolved Scottish Parliament and in Scottish local government. The leader of the Scottish Conservatives is Ruth Davidson MSP, who has held the post since 2011.

The modern Scottish Conservative Party was established in 1965 with the merger of Unionist Party into the Conservative Party of England and Wales. The Unionist Party, as with the Conservative and Unionist Party in England and Wales, was formed in 1912 by the merger of the Conservatives and Liberal Unionists, and existed as the dominant force in Scottish politics from the 1930s to the late 1950s. While organising itself as a separate party in Scotland, Unionists took the Conservative whip in the UK Parliament, with Andrew Bonar Law, then a Unionist and Member of Parliament for Glasgow Central becoming leader of the Conservative Party and Prime Minister.

Unionists won the most seats in Scotland in the 1955 general election and gained a majority of the Scottish vote - the first time this was achieved by a political party since the introduction of universal suffrage. In the 1959 election, Unionists won the most votes in Scotland, but fewer seats than the Labour Party who went on to dominate Scottish politics for the latter half of the 20th century.

The 1997 general election saw the Conservatives fail to return any MPs in Scottish constituencies, declining from 12 in 1992. The party has returned a single MP from Scotland in the 2001, 2005, 2010 and 2015 general elections. Since the creation of the Scottish Parliament, Scottish Conservatives have consistently taken third place in its elections and currently control 15 of the 129 seats, with 12 of these seats won through the additional member system. The party has one of the six Scottish seats in the European Parliament. In 2012, the Scottish Conservatives had 11,000 members.

History

Merger

Electoral defeat in the 1959 general election led to the reforms of 1965, which brought an end to the Unionist Party as an independent force. It was renamed the Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party and constitutionally came under the control of the UK party. These, and further reforms in 1977, saw the Scottish Conservatives being viewed as a regional unit, with its personnel, finance, and political offices under the control of a leadership in London.

These changes had serious implications for the Conservatives' Scottish identity. Set alongside the end of Empire and the emergence of many independent states it witnessed the rise of the Scottish National Party (SNP) as sections of the old Unionist vote swung to the SNP along with former Labour voters who supported Scottish independence. This may seem paradoxical, but the Unionist Party had benefited greatly from its projection as an independent Scottish party opposing the London-based British Labour Party. In addition the name "Conservative" was identified with the English party; and there was a strong unionist-nationalist tradition, represented by the likes of John Buchan (who said "I believe every Scotsman should be a Scottish nationalist.") and those who had founded the Scottish Party (which later merged with the National Party of Scotland to found the Scottish National Party).

The Thatcher-Major years

The election of Margaret Thatcher in the 1979 general election revived the Party's support and returned more MPs, but this was squandered in the two subsequent elections of 1983 and 1987. These elections witnessed the rise of the SDP-Liberal Alliance, which ate into traditional Unionist Party support, along with increased support for Labour and SNP in 1987.

At the 1987 General Election, the Conservatives had their number of Scottish seats lowered from 21 to 10, their worst performance since before World War I. They lost the seats of Aberdeen South, Angus East, Argyll and Bute, Banff and Buchan, Cunninghame North, Edinburgh Central, Edinburgh South, Fife North East, Moray, Renfrew West and Inverclyde and Strathkelvin and Bearsden.

This anti-Conservative position—reminiscent of the pre-1886 electoral position—has been attributed to Margaret Thatcher's perceived advocacy of American monetarist policies that were leading to the closure of traditional Scottish industries. This was at odds with the past Scottish Unionist position of "service to others and to the community" and was graphically illustrated by the cool reception she received at the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland when she made her "Sermon on the Mound".

By then advocating the introduction of the poll tax a year early in Scotland (where they had minority support) they further exacerbated the image of being anti-Scottish. Ironically the Scottish Conservatives had been amongst the fiercest advocates of introducing the poll tax to replace the system of local government rates.

The replacement of Margaret Thatcher with John Major did see a very small increase in their vote in the 1992 election when they campaigned on a "Save the Union" ticket against a resurgent SNP and took back the Aberdeen South seat. However, the marginality of the increase—the SNP's vote increased substantially but success was limited by First Past The Post—combined with Conservative Party divisions, Black Wednesday, the rise of New Labour, the increased willingness of the electorate to resort to tactical voting and the Conservatives' uncompromising opposition to any form of devolved legislative assembly for Scotland contrived to see the Conservatives lose all of their Scottish seats at the 1997 election. It was the first time in almost 180 years that a centre-right party had been completely shut out in Scotland.

Devolution and pre-1965 considerations

Former logo of the Scottish Conservatives, used until 2006

It was the establishment of a Scottish Parliament, an institution they had opposed vehemently, that gave the Scottish Conservatives a modicum of Parliamentary respectability. However, this was only because of the Parliament's proportional representation electoral system, and the level of national support they received in 1999 and 2003 hardly moved. Although the party received no constituency seats in the first Scottish Parliament election in 1999, they were able to gain the marginal Ayr constituency from the Labour Party following a by-election in 2000. Following their by-election victory, the Conservatives managed to pick up three constituency seats in 2003, Edinburgh Pentlands, Galloway and Upper Nithsdale and Ayr.

In subsequent Westminster elections, their vote has been equally sluggish or static. In the 2001 election, they won a seat from the SNP, but the sitting MP subsequently lost against Labour in the 2005 election in a redrawn seat (which had a notional Labour majority). However they did gain the Dumfriess-shire, Clydesdale & Tweeddale seat from notional Labour control.

File:Scottish Conservatives.svg

Former logo of the Scottish Conservatives, used from 2006 to 2012

In the 2007 Scottish Parliament elections, the party gained their fourth constituency seat in Roxburgh and Berwickshire. Following a boundary review before the 2011 Scottish parliament election, the Conservatives were given 6 constituency seats which they would have won notionally at the 2007 election: Dumfriesshire, Edinburgh Pentlands, Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Galloway and West Dumfries, Eastwood and Ayr. The party would have notionally won 14 seats using AMS, giving them 20 seats, which is three more than they actually won in 2007.

The 1997 wipe out and subsequent lack of movement has resulted in debate about how the party should change to revive its fortunes. Echoing their pre-1965 position, one suggestion has been to drop the name "Conservative". However, the Strathclyde Commission ruled out a return to the "Scottish Unionist Party" name because of sensitivity to Northern Irish sectarian connotations. Besides, this would now be impossible under the new Electoral Commission as the small Scottish Unionist Party is already registered.

The deputy leader of the party, Murdo Fraser MSP, has suggested that the party become independent, like the pre-1965 Unionist Party, and adopt a relationship with the English Conservatives analogous to the relationship which the Christian Social Union in Bavaria has with the Christian Democratic Union in Germany. Brian Monteith, an MSP, who has since left the party, proposed that the Scottish Conservatives support fiscal autonomy for Scotland as a means to appear more "Scottish" than the Labour party who oppose it. A resonance with John Buchan was struck when an ex-MP said the party should support Scottish independence because it would produce a clearer and more co-operative relationship with England than what he felt was the latent conflicts and resentments devolution would create. Allan Stewart, former MP for Eastwood, said: "'I've always believed that the English perception of what independence would do to them has always been unnecessarily worried. There is a major issue about defence, but I don't think other issues are a real worry.'" (Herald, 02/05/2005).

However, it remains to be seen if the Scottish Conservatives will return to a model that reflects the previous Unionist Party. Fiscal autonomy has not been rejected but it still remains unclear if the party will adopt it. As for an independent party or independence, the party leadership and Parliamentarians face a membership who have grown into using the name 'Conservative' and take pride in it, despite the decline it heralded. Many members are also ideologically opposed to any notion of Scottish autonomy, whether it be for Scotland or their party, even though this was a feature of the party when it had a larger membership. With such obstacles to overcome, the present party may take the route of hoping for a fillip from new Conservative leader David Cameron, but on the past electoral experiences with Margaret Thatcher and John Major, this has often been followed with poll disasters such as the 1987 and 1997 elections. However, the decline of the Scottish Conservatives has not been constant—in the 1992 General Election, the Scottish Conservatives gained a seat in Scotland to become Scotland's second party, with 11 seats north of the border, and the party is currently second in several Scottish seats that could provide a basis for long-term recovery.

Following the 2010 General Election

In the 2010 UK General Election, David Cameron's Conservatives were the victors and subsequently formed government through a coalition with the Liberal Democrats. In Scotland however, not a single seat was gained by the party, and David Mundell remained the party's only Scottish MP. A committee was then established to analyse the situation, headed by Lord Sanderson, with Lord Forsyth also contributing.

The Sanderson Commission outlined the following recommendations:

• Elect a Scottish leader to have overall responsibility for the Party’s performance in Scotland.
• Replace the weak leadership and governance framework with a streamlined, transparent and accountable structure.
• Create regional campaign centres staffed by campaign professionals.
• Increase support and resources for the local association network.
• Develop a clear vision for Scotland, distinct to the Scottish Conservatives.
• Engage the whole Party and wider Scotland in policy development - and recruit a chief policy adviser.
• Introduce balloted motions and open debate at Party conference.
• Overhaul candidate selection and development - and reform the current ranking process for Regional List MSPs.
• Establish a process to identify and develop future Party leaders.
• Contest every local government seat throughout Scotland.
• Launch a new fundraising and membership drive across Scotland.
• Provide an annual grant to Conservative Future Scotland to help develop the Party’s youth wing.

The commission also stated the need for a leadership election to be held after the Scottish parliamentary election, as no leadership election has thus far been held by the Scottish Conservatives.

In the 2011 Scottish Parliament election, the party campaigned on what it called 'common sense for Scotland', and outlined the requirement for re-introducing university tuition fees and prescription charges, as well as emphasising what the party had helped pass through parliament as a minority force in the last parliament: 1,000 extra police officers, four-year council tax freeze and £60m town regeneration fund. However this proved insufficient, and the party was reduced from 17 seats, to 15, as the SNP won an un-precedented majority of seats. The Conservatives could take comfort in the knowledge that their losses were slight in comparison to those suffered by Labour and the Liberal Democrats; however, Annabel Goldie announced her resignation as party leader soon after the election.

On 4 November 2011, Ruth Davidson was elected as party leader beating original front-runner, Murdo Fraser MSP.

Between 2007 and November 2012, the party logo was a sketched outline of a Banyan (or Indian Fig) Tree - said to trumpet the party's green credentials and modern approach to multiculturalism. During the 2012 Party Conference in Troon, it was announced by Ruth Davidson MSP that the Scottish Conservatives would adopt a new party logo, which was ultimately unveiled on 24 November. Ruth Davidson stated at the launch that "Our new Union Saltire logo is bold, fresh and easy to recognise. Obviously inspired by the St Andrew’s Cross, it is distinctly Scottish but with colours which clearly reflect our pride in the United Kingdom".

Policies

The Scottish Conservatives are a centre-right political party, with a commitment to Scotland remaining a part of the United Kingdom. It is autonomous from the Conservative Party across the UK in the creation of policy in devolved areas. In August 2006, the leader of the UK Conservative Party, David Cameron, said that the party should recognise "that the policies of Conservatives in Scotland and Wales will not always be the same as our policies in England" and that the "West Lothian question must be answered from a Unionist perspective".

In certain areas, the party has adopted different policy positions from the UK Conservatives. Following the Sutherland Report in 1999, the party voted with the Scottish Executive in 2002 to introduce free personal care for the elderly funded from general taxation.

Party organisation

The party is governed by a Party Management Board convened the Party Chairman, currently Robert Forman. The Management Board also consists of the party leader, its conference convener, a treasurer and three regional conveners representing the north, east and west of Scotland areas. As of September 2015, these are-

• Robert Forman, Chairman of the Scottish Conservatives
• Ruth Davidson MSP, Leader of the Scottish Conservatives
• Pat McPhee, Conference Convener
• James Stewart, Treasurer of the Party
• James Reekie, East of Scotland Regional Convener
• George Carr, North of Scotland Regional Convener
• Richard Wilkinson, West of Scotland Regional Convener

The party leader is elected by members on a one-member-one-vote basis, with the chairman appointed by the Scottish leader after consultation with the UK party leader. The Conference convener is a voluntary officer elected by members at the party's annual conference who must have been a former regional convener, and is responsible for chairing the conference and the party's convention.

Leader of the Party

The position of leader of the Scottish Conservatives was created in 2011. Between 1999 and 2011, the position listed below was leader of the Scottish Conservatives in the Scottish Parliament. The new position of Scottish party leader was created following the recommendations of the Sanderson Commission.

No.	Image	Name	Term start	Term end
1		David McLetchie	6 May 1999	31 October 2005
2		Annabel Goldie	31 October 2005	4 November 2011
3		Ruth Davidson	4 November 2011	Incumbent

Central staff

The party's registered headquarters is at Scottish Conservative Central Office, 67 Northumberland Street, Edinburgh. Between 2001 and 2010, SCCO was housed in an office on Princes Street. The Scottish Conservatives central staff includes the Director of the Party, currently Mark McInnes, who serves as its chief executive, and three regional campaign managers.

Scottish Parliament spokespeople

The front bench formulates the party's policy on issues devolved to the Scottish Parliament.

Member of the Scottish Parliament	Constituency or Region	First elected	Current Role
Ruth Davidson	Glasgow	2011	Leader of the Scottish Conservative Party
Jackson Carlaw	West Scotland	2003	Deputy Leader and Health & Wellbeing Spokesman
Alex Fergusson	Galloway & West Dumfries	2003	Rural Affairs Spokesperson
Annabel Goldie	West Scotland	1999	Constitution Spokesperson
John Lamont	Ettrick, Roxburgh & Berwickshire	2007	Chief Whip & Business Manager
Liz Smith	Mid Scotland & Fife	2007	Culture, Sport and Young People Spokesperson & MSP Policy Co-ordinator
Gavin Brown	Lothian	2007	Finance, Employment and Sustainable Growth Spokesperson
Mary Scanlon	Highlands & Islands	1999	Education and Lifelong Learning Spokesperson
Murdo Fraser	Mid Scotland & Fife	2001	Enterprise, Energy and Tourism Spokesperson & Chair of EET Committee
Jamie McGrigor	Highlands & Islands	1999	Environment, Fishing and External Affairs Spokesperson
Alex Johnstone	North East Scotland	1999	Infrastructure, Capital Investment, Housing and Transport Spokesperson
Nanette Milne	North East Scotland	2003	Public Health, Sport and Commonwealth Games Spokesman
Cameron Buchanan	Lothians	2013	Local Government and Planning Spokesperson
John Scott	Ayr	2000	Backbench MSP
Margaret Mitchell	Central Scotland	2003	Justice Spokesperson

Electoral performance

District Council Elections

Year	Share of votes	Councillors
1974	26.8%	241 / 1,110
1977	27.2%	259 / 1,107
1980	24.1%	232 / 1,182
1984	21.4	189 / 1,182
1988	19.4	162 / 1,182
1992	23.2	204 / 1,158

Regional Council Elections

Year	Share of votes	Councillors
1974	28.6%	112 / 432
1978	30.3%	121 / 432
1982	25.1%	119 / 441
1986	16.9%	65 / 524
1990	19.2%	52 / 524
1994	19.2%	31 / 453

Local Council Elections

Blue indicates council areas where the Conservatives were the largest party at the 2012 Scottish Local Council Elections.

Year	Share of votes	Councillors
1995	11.5%	82 / 1,155
1999	13.5%	108 / 1,222
2003	15.1%	122 / 1,222
2007	15.6% (first preference)	143 / 1,222
2012	13.3% (first preference)	115 / 1,222

European Parliament Elections

Blue indicates council areas where the Conservatives were the largest party at the 2014 European Parliament Election.

Year	Share of votes	Seats
1979	33.7%	5 / 8
1984	25.8%	2 / 8
1989	20.9%	0 / 8
1994	14.5%	0 / 8
1999	19.8%	2 / 8
2004	17.8%	2 / 7
2009	16.8%	1 / 6
2014	17.2%	1 / 6

UK General Elections

Blue indicates the seat won by the Conservatives at the 2015 General Election.

Year	Share of votes	Seats
1826		32 / 45
1830		33 / 45
1831		23 / 45
1832	21.0%	10 / 53
1835	37.2%	15 / 53
1837	46.0%	20 / 53
1841	38.3%	20 / 53
1847	18.3%	20 / 53
1852	27.4%	20 / 53
1857	15.2%	14 / 53
1859	33.6%	13 / 53
1865	14.6%	11 / 53
1868	17.5%	7 / 60
1874	31.6%	20 / 60
1880	29.9%	8 / 60
1885	34.3%	10 / 72
1886	46.4%	29 / 72
1892	44.4%	21 / 72
1895	47.4%	33 / 72
1900	49.0%	38 / 72
1906	38.2%	12 / 72
1910 (January)	39.6%	11 / 72
1910 (December)	42.6%	12 / 72
1918	32.8%	32 / 74
1922	25.1%	15 / 74
1923	31.6%	16 / 74
1924	40.7%	38 / 74
1929	35.9%	22 / 74
1931	54.4%	50 / 74
1935	48.7%	35 / 72
1945	41.8%	30 / 72
1950	44.8%	31 / 70
1951	48.6%	35 / 72
1955	50.1%	36 / 72
1959	47.3%	31 / 72
1964	40.6%	24 / 72
1966	37.7%	20 / 72
1970	38.0%	23 / 72
1974 (Feb)	32.9%	21 / 72
1974 (Oct)	24.7%	16 / 72
1979	31.4%	22 / 72
1983	28.4%	21 / 72
1987	24.0%	10 / 72
1992	25.8%	11 / 72
1997	17.5%	0 / 72
2001	15.6%	1 / 72
2005	15.8%	1 / 59
2010	16.7%	1 / 59
2015	14.9%	1 / 59

Scottish Parliament Elections

Blue indicates constituency seats won by the Conservatives in the 2011 Scottish Parliament Election.

Year	Share of votes (constituency)	Share of votes (list)	Seats	Position	Outcome
1999	15.6%	15.3%	18 / 129	3rd	Opposition
2003	16.6%	15.5%	18 / 129 (including 3 First Past the Post seats)	3rd	Opposition
2007	16.6%	13.9%	17 / 129 (including 4 First Past the Post seats)	3rd	Opposition
2011	13.9%	12.4%	15 / 129 (including 3 First Past the Post seats)	3rd	Opposition

See also

• Scottish Unionist Party (1912-1965)
• Scottish Unionist Party (1986)
• Conservative Future Scotland
• Elections in Scotland
• Northern Ireland Conservatives
• Welsh Conservative Party

Further reading

• The Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party: ‘the lesser spotted Tory’? (PDF file), Dr David Seawright, School of Politics and International Studies, University of Leeds, Paper presented at the Annual Conference of the Political Studies Association, University of Aberdeen, 5–7 April 2002
• The Decline of the Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party 1950–1992: Religion, Ideology or Economics?, David Seawright and John Curtice, Centre for Research into Elections and Social Trends, University of Oxford, Working Paper Number 33, February 1995
• Smith, Alexander Thomas T. 2011 Devolution and the Scottish Conservatives: banal activism, electioneering and the politics of irrelevance Manchester: Manchester University Press

External links

• Official website
• scottishtorymeps.org.uk
• Scottish Conservative Party at The Scotsman
• ASPECT: Access to Scottish Parliamentary Election Candidate Materials, University of Strathclyde