DOUGLAS Ross is facing “at least” two separate challenges to his leadership from within the Scottish Conservative party, according to reports.
Ross was installed at the head of the Scottish Tories after Jackson Carlaw’s surprise resignation in July 2020.
At the time, the Moray MP did not have a seat in Holyrood. However, he was given the top spot on the Highlands and Islands list in order to essentially guarantee his entry to the Scottish parliament in the 2021 elections. He refused to stand in a constituency.
Just over two years after taking over, there are various rumblings about Ross’s leadership – following an exodus of staff from his backroom team including chief of staff Jon Novakovic and director of communications David Bateman.
A “senior” source inside the Scottish Tories told the Sun that there were “at least two separate moves” against Ross in the works.
Although both are reportedly in the early stages, the economic crisis which followed the UK Government’s “mini-budget” could have accelerated the rate at which plotting MSPs want to move against Ross (below).
The Sun was told: “At least two separate moves against Ross are being considered, with both being in the early stages.
“One group that is starting to emerge is understood to have been holding off on making any significant moves until next year but the fallout from the ‘clusterf***’ of the UK Government’s mini-budget has accelerated plotting.”
Ross, like Scottish Secretary Alister Jack, refused to publicly back either Rishi Sunak or Liz Truss during the Tory leadership contest which ran over the summer.
After Truss was declared the victor, Ross threw his weight behind her – calling on the Scottish Government to mirror her tax cuts for the rich funded by increased borrowing, even as the value of the pound plummeted to record lows.
However, he undermined his own position after telling journalists that he had concerns about paying his own mortgage in the wake of the Tory government’s internationally condemned economic actions.
He was also publicly embarrassed after hiring Craig Paterson, who Ross said had formerly been “a key part of Scottish Labour’s operations” under Jim Murphy’s leadership.
Murphy then intervened to say he had never heard of, let alone met or hired, Paterson.
On an incidental but separately embarrassing note, Ross would have to pay First Minister Nicola Sturgeon £100 out of his own pocket if he were to be ousted as Scottish Tory leader while she remains at the head of the SNP.
While the Scottish Tories held on to their record 31 MSPs in the 2021 Holyrood elections, they slipped into third place behind Labour in the 2022 local elections.
A Scottish Tory spokesperson said: “Douglas is focused on holding the SNP to account and tackling the cost of living crisis.”
