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Scottish Conservatives head towards split
David Mundell, the country’s only Tory MP, is set to publicly declare that he will not “betray” Conservative voters or his colleagues at Westminster by joining any new and separate party.
Ahead of his speech, on the opening day of the Conservative conference in Manchester, he yesterday also backed leadership rival Ruth Davidson and described her as a future “champion”.
Mr Fraser, who is currently deputy leader at Holyrood, wants to dissolve the Tories and create a new Scottish Unionist party, allied to David Cameron’s MPs at Westminster but without the “toxic” legacy that has alienated it in the eyes of millions of Scots.
Full HERE
When teetering on the precipice of oblivion, only the Scottish tories could think the way forward is to push each other off the edge.
(Well, them and the SSP)
The bigger question surely is, will anybody in Scotland even care?
And there already is a "Scottish Unionist Party", the political wing of the Loyal Orange Lodge of Scotland (LOLS). So I guess not much will change there then...
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If they want to rebrand themselves you might as well let them give it a go because things could hardly get much worse for them in Scotland.
Think you've hit the nail on the head there with the bolded bit. In reality, not many in Scotland will care, the Tories have shot their bolt to a large extent and the situation, in reality, is now pretty much a two party system with the SNP and Labour.
Plus, I don't think anybody will be stupid enough not to see this for what it would be, a simple rebranding.
http://newsnetscotland.com/index.php/scottish-economy/3326-uk-would-be-financially-worse-off-without-scotland-says-goldie.html
Admittedly the source is a nationalist supporting website but, how many of the mainstream media outlets have commented on this momentous admission?
As you no longer live in Scotland and so are not affected by their decisions/actions, do you believe you should have a say in who leads the party in Holyrood?
You mean with their 1 MP? And that will probably be none after the next election.
David Mundell is their one MP. One too many if we're aiming to create a civilised society as far as I'm concerned.
The Scottish Conservatives, farcical though they are (the less said about Mundell the better and he isn't actually in the Scottish Conservatives), don't just stand at Westminster you know.
Anyway . . . and speaking as someone who thinks their demise if hilarious and can only hasten constitutional reform (hooray!) their biggest problem is that neither of their prospective leaders are half as good as Annabelle Goldie is, which is saying something, at least, agree or disagree with her politics, Goldie had integrity and personality. Davidson is a self serving political cynic purely trying to grab a position for herself, and Fraser is an idiot. Whichever one gets it the Scottish Tories are still circling the drain. Which is at the very least funny to watch.
Spot on - I even vote SNP to keep the Tories out.
Does it worry you if I do?
I know they have MSPs also - ironically using a system that the Tory party dislikes. How many Tory MSPs would there be if it were FPTP?
It is a genuine question.
Unionist party politics intrigue me in how members from north and south of the border view their place within the party.
All votes gratefully received, whatever the reason.
The Conservative Party is a UK party and I have an interest in Scottish politics being a Scot myself. Therefore it is quite legitimate for me to air my views, especially as I have some understanding of the party's history north of the border.
Surely any party has to move on from its history. Is dwelling on the past not a large part of the Scottish unionist parties' problems?
Politics has changed dramatically in Scotland but the unionist parties, particularly their members south of the border do not seem to have caught on.
Would it not be better for the party to leave the Scottish members to tackle Scottish issues if it wants electoral success?
Murdo Fraser seems to think so.
Pretty much agree with that. Nowadays, the Conservaties are a UK party in name only, in actual situation they're pretty much irrelevant in large parts of the UK and, indeed, in Scotland as a whole. Politics has indeed changed dramatically in Scotland, but that news is taking a long time to catch on with certain people and persuasions.
I'm dissapointed Goldie is standing down. She comes across as a good, honest person and I respect her. She was a good type of character to have in the parliament. She was popular with the public despite the baggage her party carries and I'll never forget her out with the protestors that day at Diaego. She'll be missed.
As long as we are a United Kingdom, political parties need to have presence (however small) throughout the country. It is ludicrous to suggest that rebranding the Scottish Conservatives as a new party will suddenly bring electoral gains. You know as well as I do that Labour and the SNP would still call the "new party" Tories. They would sit would the Conservatives at Westminster and go their own way Holyrood. That, to some extent, can be done now.
Murdo Fraser is a prize idiot.
Good lord! I find something to agree with you on.
I'm sorry she is standing down too. She is one of the great personalities in Scottish politics.
I can't disagree with your last point about Fraser.
A growing number of people in Scotland feel Westminster is remote and has less and less relevance to everyday life in Scotland. The major decisions such as health, education, environment, etc are all made in Holyrood. The unionist parties are still perceived as receiving their orders from London on these issues.
Come the referendum the unionists need leaders to make their case. At the moment that looks as though those leaders will be at Westminster, not Holyrood. Fraser at least seems to be acknowledging this and trying to address it.
As a supporter of the SNP it will make the campaign very one sided having no serious Scottish unionist campaigner. But as a Scot I would prefer a robust debate before the vote. With a successful vote for independence obviously.