Wikipedia

Scottish Conservatives

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

The Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party often known simply as the Scottish Conservatives and colloquially as the Scottish Tories[7] is part of the UK Conservative Party active in Scotland. It currently holds 5 of the 57 Scottish seats in the House of Commons, 31 of the 129 seats in the Scottish Parliament, and comprises 209 of Scotland's 1,227 local councillors.

Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
LeaderRussell Findlay
Deputy LeaderRachael Hamilton
ChairCraig Hoy
Deputy ChairPam Gosal
FoundedApril 1965; 59 years ago (April 1965)[1]
Preceded byUnionist Party
Headquarters67 Northumberland Street, Edinburgh
Membership (2024)7,000[2]
Ideology
Political positionCentre-right to right-wing
National affiliationConservatives
Colours  Blue
House of Commons (Scottish seats)
5 / 57
Scottish Parliament
31 / 129
Local government in Scotland[6]
209 / 1,226
Website
www.scottishconservatives.com

The party's policies in Scotland usually promote conservatism and the continuation of Scotland's role as part of the United Kingdom.

Russell Findlay is the Leader of the Scottish Conservative Party, having replaced Douglas Ross who led the party between 2020 and September 2024. The party was previously led by Jackson Carlaw (2020) and Ruth Davidson (2011–2019). Prior to this, Annabel Goldie (2005–2011) and David McLetchie (1999–2005) led the party in the Scottish Parliament.

In the 1999 elections to the Scottish Parliament, 18 Scottish Conservative MSPs were elected. The party maintained this number in 2003, before slipping to 17 MSPs in 2007 and 15 MSPs in 2011. In the 2016 Scottish Parliament election, the party saw a notable increase in its vote leading to the election of 31 MSPs and replaced Scottish Labour as the main opposition party in the Scottish Parliament. In 2021, they again returned 31 MSPs.

In Westminster elections, the party saw its popularity decline throughout the latter half of the twentieth century and eventually returned no MPs in the 1997 election. And in 2001, 2005, 2010, and 2015 only one Scottish Conservative MP was elected. This changed following the 2017 general election where they won 13 seats and saw a substantial increase in vote share. However, in 2019 they lost more than half of these seats, seeing 6 MPs elected. Most recently, in the 2024 election 5 Scottish Conservative MPs were elected.

History

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Scottish Conservatism pre-1912

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Before 1912, the Conservative Party operated in Scotland. With the emergence of mass party political groups in the second half of the 19th century, distinct organisations emerged in Scotland. The voluntary party organisation, the National Union of Conservative Associations for Scotland (mirroring the National Union of Conservative Associations), emerged in 1882, creating a distinct Conservative conference in Scotland.[8]

A previous organisation, the Scottish National Constitutional Association, existed from 1867, with the patronage of UK party leader Benjamin Disraeli. The Scotsman newspaper reported that following the 1874 election "Conservative Clubs and Working Men's Conservative Associations have spring up like mushrooms in all parts of [Scotland]".[9]

From the Representation of the People Act 1884 until 1918, the Liberal Party was the dominant political force in Scotland, operating in a largely two-party system with the Scottish Conservatives. In 1886, the Liberal Unionists had broken away from the Liberal Party in opposition to William Gladstone's proposals for Irish Home Rule. Joint Liberal Unionist and Conservative candidates were run across the United Kingdom, but with the organisations of these parties remaining separate.

The Unionist Party (1912–1965)

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Logo of the Scottish Unionist Association
Main article: Unionist Party (Scotland)

Following the merger of the Conservatives and Liberal Unionists to create the modern Conservative and Unionist Party in England and Wales, a committee was formed of the National Union of Conservative Associations for Scotland and regional Liberal Unionist associations which recommended a merger in Scotland. This was agreed in December 1912, creating the Scottish Unionist Association and the Unionist Party.[10]

From 1918 and through the 1920s, the Labour Party became more prominent, displacing the Liberals as one of the two main parties in Scottish politics. The Unionist Party had a number of electoral successes, topping the poll in Scotland in a number of elections from the 1930s to 1950s. During the period of its existence, the Unionist Party produced two Prime Ministers of the United Kingdom – Bonar Law and Alec Douglas-Home – and uniquely among parties in the post-war period, achieved more than half of the popular vote within Scotland in the 1931 general election and 1955 general election. The majority of the vote achieved in these two General Elections was combined with the National Liberal Party who later merged with the Conservative and Unionist Party in 1968 alongside the Unionist Party which had already merged into the Conservative and Unionist Party in 1965.

While taking the Conservative whip in the House of Commons, the Unionist Party had a lengthy "unionist-nationalist" tradition, emphasising its Scottish identity within the United Kingdom and the British Empire. This was represented by elected members such as John Buchan (who said "I believe every Scotsman should be a Scottish nationalist") [11] and those former Unionists who in 1932 founded the pro-home rule Scottish Party (which later merged with the National Party of Scotland to form the Scottish National Party).

Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party

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Following a decline in performance, coming second to the Labour Party in seats though first in votes at the 1959 general election and both votes and seats at the 1964 general election, the Unionist Party proposed a number of reforms which involved amalgamation with the Conservative and Unionist Party in England and Wales – taking place in 1965. The modern Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party, as part of the wider UK Conservative Party, came into existence from this point.[12]

However its electoral fortunes continued to decline throughout the 1960s. Following Harold Wilson's failure to obtain a Labour majority in February 1974, a second general election was held in October of the same year which saw the party decline to below 25% of the vote and drop from 21 seats to 16. At the same time, the SNP were to gain an unprecedented 11 MPs, unseating a number of Conservative MPs in rural constituencies.

The party's fortunes recovered somewhat in 1979 under the leadership of Margaret Thatcher, but her tenure as Prime Minister was to see the party's fortunes drop further from holding 22 seats in 1979 to 10 in 1987. The party increased its share of the vote and number of MPs to 11 in 1992 under John Major's leadership before dropping to 17.5% of the popular vote and failing to have any MPs returned from Scotland in 1997. It continued to return only a single MP from Scottish constituencies at the 2001, 2005, 2010 and 2015 general elections, before winning 13 seats in 2017.

Following the 2010 general election performance, the party commissioned a review under Lord Sanderson of Bowden to consider the party's future organisation. The Sanderson Commission's report recommended a single Scottish leader (replacing a leader of the Scottish Parliamentary group), reforms to governance and constituency structures, the creation of regional campaigning centres, greater focus on policy development and a new membership and fundraising drive.[13]

Scottish devolution

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Former logo of the Scottish Conservatives, used until 2006

The party's commitments to a devolved Scottish Assembly were to decline under the leadership of Margaret Thatcher. Previously the party had offered some support for a Scottish Assembly, including in the so-called Declaration of Perth in 1968 under UK party leader Edward Heath. John Major, while endorsing further powers for the Scottish Grand Committee and the Scottish Office did not support a devolved parliament. With the Labour Party's victory in 1997, referendums on devolution were organised in Scotland and Wales, both receiving agreement that devolved legislatures should be formed.

In 1999, the first elections to a devolved Scottish Parliament were held. Following the Conservatives electoral wipe-out in Scotland in 1997, devolution provided the party with a number of parliamentary representatives in Scotland. Less than a year following the first Scottish Parliament election, a 2000 by-election was held in the Ayr constituency with John Scott winning the seat from Labour.

In the party leadership elections in 2011, the previous deputy leader Murdo Fraser proposed disbanding the party and creating a new Scottish party of the centre-right, similar to the previous Unionist Party and compared this arrangement to the relationship between the Christian Social Union in Bavaria and the Christian Democratic Union in Germany. The move was opposed by the other three candidates.[14][15] Victory went to the newly elected MSP Ruth Davidson who suggested that she would oppose further devolution beyond the new powers proposed by the Calman Commission.

The party was one of the three main Scottish political parties to join in the Better Together campaign opposing Scotland becoming independent in the 2014 Scottish independence referendum. Although a Conservative majority government was returned in Westminster in the 2015 general election, David Mundell remained their only MP elected in Scotland and was appointed Secretary of State for Scotland. He replaced Liberal Democrat incumbents who served during the 2010–15 Coalition government. The UK Government set about implementing the recommendations of the cross-party Smith Commission.

Recent elections

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2011 Scottish Parliament election

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Annabel Goldie led the party into the 2011 Scottish Parliament election, having successfully campaigned in budget negotiations with the minority SNP Scottish Government for a number of concessions over the 2007–11 Scottish Parliament. This had resulted in commitments to 1,000 extra police officers, four-year council tax freeze and £60m town regeneration fund.[16]

The election saw the SNP win a majority and the Scottish Conservatives were reduced from 17 seats to 15, losing the Edinburgh Pentlands constituency to the SNP, seeing notional loses in Eastwood and Dumfriesshire to Labour. Following the election, Annabel Goldie resigned as leader and a leadership election was held in November 2011 – the first to appoint a Leader of the Scottish Conservatives, rather than the Scottish Parliament group, as required by the Sanderson Commission. Ruth Davidson was returned, beating the original front-runner and former deputy leader Murdo Fraser.

Davidson drove forward a number of the Sanderson Commission's reforms, including replacing the party's Banyan (or Indian Fig) tree logo with a "union saltire".

2015 UK general election

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The Conservatives made little advance at the 2015 UK general election, with Scotland's sole Conservative MP David Mundell holding on to his Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale constituency with a reduced majority of just 798 votes ahead of the SNP's Emma Harper. The Conservatives made no seat gains at the election in Scotland, with target seats such as Argyll and Bute; West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine; and Angus being won by the SNP (who won all but 3 Scottish seats). The party did however come close in Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk where MSP John Lamont was only 328 votes behind the SNP's Calum Kerr: this was the most marginal result in Scotland and the eighth most marginal result in the United Kingdom.

2016 Scottish Parliament election

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Conservative share of the constituency vote by constituency in the 2016 election.

At the 2016 Scottish Parliament election, the Scottish Conservative campaign focused on providing strong opposition to the SNP government in Scotland, opposing calls for a second referendum on Scottish independence. The party manifesto focused on freezing business tax rates to promote economic growth and greater employment opportunities; investing in mental health treatment over the course of the next parliament; a commitment to building 100,000 affordable homes within 5 years and a re-introduction of the Right to Buy scheme in Scotland.[17] The Scottish Conservatives were the only major party in Scotland to oppose higher taxes to the rest of the United Kingdom during the campaign as tax reductions came in force across the rest of the UK which were opposed by the SNP, Labour and Liberal Democrats.[18]

At the election the party saw major gains, particularly on the regional list vote. The Conservatives doubled their representation in the Scottish Parliament by taking 31 seats (compared to 15 in 2011), making them the leading opposition party in the Scottish Parliament ahead of Scottish Labour. On the constituency element of the vote the Conservatives held on to their three first past the post constituency seats (Ayr; Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire and Galloway and West Dumfries), making gains in Aberdeenshire West; Dumfriesshire; Eastwood and Edinburgh Central, where party leader Ruth Davidson stood for election. This marked the party's best electoral performance in Scotland since the 1992 UK general election.

2017 UK general election

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Conservative share of the vote by constituency in the 2017 election.

Campaigning in opposition to proposals put forward by Nicola Sturgeon and the Scottish Parliament for a second referendum on Scottish independence to be held following the United Kingdom's decision to leave the European Union in a referendum held in 2016 which was not supported by a majority of Scottish voters, the Scottish Conservatives had their best ever election in Scotland in seat terms since 1983 at the 2017 general election. The Conservatives gained 12 MP's in Scotland to give them 13 in total. The party had their largest vote share in a general election in Scotland since 1979, taking a total of 757,949 votes (28.6%) in Scotland.

David Mundell held on to his Dumfrieesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale seat with an increased majority of 9,441 votes (19.3%). The party also gained the Ayr, Carrick and Cumnock; Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk; and Dumfries and Galloway constituencies to the south of the country, and gained East Renfrewshire on the outskirts of Glasgow.

The Conservatives also took a majority of seats in the North East of Scotland, gaining former First Minister of Scotland Alex Salmond's Gordon constituency, alongside Moray, the seat of the SNP's Westminster leader Angus Robertson. Other gains for the party in the North East included Aberdeen South; Angus; Banff and Buchan; and West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine. The party took the Ochil and South Perthshire; and Stirling constituencies in central Scotland and missed out to the SNP in Perth and North Perthshire by just 21 votes.

2019 European elections

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The Scottish Conservatives retained their single seat in the European Parliament at the 2019 European Parliament election. Incumbent MEP Nosheena Mobarik was reelected.[19]

2019 UK general election

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On 29 August 2019, Davidson stood down citing several political and personal reasons for her decision to resign as leader.[20][21]

The Scottish Conservatives lost more than half of their seats in Scotland to the Scottish National Party in the December 2019 general election, with a 3.5% swing away from the party.[22][23] The lost seats were Aberdeen South; Angus; Ayr, Carrick and Cumnock; East Renfrewshire; Gordon; Ochil and South Perthshire; and Stirling.

2021 Scottish Parliament election

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Douglas Ross led the Scottish Conservatives into the 2021 Scottish Parliament election. The party lost two constituencies it was defending (Ayr and Edinburgh Central) to the SNP but retained the remainder of its constituency seats with an increased vote share in some which political analysts attributed in-part to tactical voting from Unionists and credited this with preventing the SNP from gaining an overall majority. The Scottish Conservatives also came close to winning Banffshire and Buchan Coast.[24] The party also saw its highest result to date on the regional list with 23.5% of the vote, while losing 0.1% in the constituency vote. The Scottish Conservatives ultimately obtained 31 seats, the same as their result in the 2016 election, and remained in opposition at Holyrood.[25][26][27]

2022 Scottish local elections

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The Scottish Conservatives lost 63 seats at the 2022 Scottish local elections, shedding 5.6% of the vote and taking their total first preference vote to 19.7% in what was their worst performance electorally in nearly a decade. Some of their heaviest loses occurred in Glasgow, where their total representation went from 8 councillors to 2, and Perth & Kinross, where they lost 3 councillors and control of the council to the Scottish National Party. They also lost control of East Dunbartonshire and Angus, where they were in coalition with the Scottish Liberal Democrats, again to the Scottish National Party, who attracted a record share of the vote and councillors across Scotland.[28] Douglas Ross blamed the poor performance on Partygate, while others said his leadership was partly to blame, due to his unclear stance on whether he supported Boris Johnson remaining in office or not.

Low polling and internal rumblings

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Following the 2022 local elections, the Scottish Conservatives fortunes did not turn around. Much like the UK wide Conservative Party, the party have been struggling with low polling following Boris Johnson and Liz Truss' premiership controversies, with two polls in December 2022 showing support for the party plummeting to 13%, behind Scottish Labour who were averaging 25% and the Scottish National Party averaging 50%, along with rising support for Scottish Independence.[29] Douglas Ross' leadership authority suffered due to him u-turning on a number of policies, including scrapping the 45p tax rate, which he supported then supported the scrapping of the policy. Scottish Conservative MSP's were reported to have wanted to oust him due to the low polling and multiple u-turns, but it was subsequently revealed there isn't a mechanism in place for the Scottish Conservatives to oust their leader.[30]

Some Scottish Conservatives supported Boris Johnson,[31] but Douglas Ross called on him to resign.[32]

On 12 October 2023, MP Lisa Cameron defected to the Conservatives, becoming the first elected representative to cross the floor to a unionist party from the SNP. She cited a "toxic and bullying" culture in her former party that led to her defection.[33][34]

2024 UK general election

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Main article: 2024 United Kingdom general election in Scotland

In the 2024 general election, the Scottish Conservatives performed poorly across Scotland with 15 lost election deposits.[35] Their vote share was almost halved, down 12.3 percentage points to 12.9%.[36] Leader Douglas Ross lost his seat to the SNP.[37] However against the national trend, the party saw success with Harriet Cross winning Gordon and Buchan unseating Richard Thomson from the SNP.[38]

Policies and ideology

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The Scottish Conservatives are a centre-right[39][40] to right-wing,[41][42][43][44][45][46][47][48] conservative[49] political party, with a commitment to Scotland remaining a part of the United Kingdom. It is autonomous from the UK Conservative Party in its leadership, internal structure and the creation of policy in devolved areas. In August 2006, the-then Leader of the 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".[50] Presently, the Scottish Conservatives refer to themselves as a "patriotic, unionist party of the Scottish centre-right" that stands for "Scotland's place in the UK, equal opportunity, enterprise and growth, localism and community and the rights of victims and the police in our justice system."[51]

Although aligned to the UK-wide Conservatives, it has in certain areas adopted different policy positions. 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.

Like Scottish Labour and the Scottish Liberal Democrats, the Scottish Conservatives are opposed to Scottish independence but have often been regarded as the most staunchly pro-Unionist of the three parties. Generally, the Scottish Conservatives favour a more business friendly environment in Scotland, increase funding for the police and frontline workers[citation needed], enact stricter law & order policies to tackle violent crime, drug and alcohol misuse, and give more support to Scotland's rural communities.[citation needed] The party has evolved to support Scottish devolution[citation needed] but has argued successive SNP administrations in Scotland have not made a constructive use of devolved powers to benefit ordinary people and have encouraged waste or corruption through devolution. Although opposed to policies that could further Scottish independence, the Scottish Conservatives support aspects of financial devolution and devolving more powers to local communities in Scotland.[52][failed verification][53][failed verification]

At the 2019 general election, the Scottish Conservatives pledged opposition to a proposed second Scottish independence referendum, delivering on Brexit and to strengthen the United Kingdom.[54][55] They lost half their seats at the election. In 2021, ahead of the Scottish Parliament elections, the party argued that Scotland should focus on economic recovery following the COVID-19 pandemic.[56]

Party organisation

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The Party is governed by a Party Management Board convened by the Party Chairman, currently Craig Hoy MSP. The Management Board also consists of the party leader, conference convener, honorary secretary, treasurer and three regional conveners representing the north, east and west of Scotland areas. These are:

  • Craig Hoy MSP, Chairman of the Scottish Conservative & Unionist Party
  • Douglas Ross MP MSP, Leader of the Scottish Conservative & Unionist Party
  • Leonard Wallace, Honorary Secretary
  • Hamish Mair, Treasurer
  • Charles Kennedy, Conference Convener
  • Anne Connell, East of Scotland Regional Convener
  • Gillian Tebberen, North of Scotland Regional Convener
  • Lynne Nailon, 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.[57]

Leader of the Scottish Conservative Party

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The position of Leader of the Scottish Conservative Party was created in 2011. The new position of Scottish party leader was created following the recommendations of the Sanderson Commission.[58] The position of leader is currently held by Douglas Ross.[59]

No. Portrait Name Term start Term end
1   Ruth Davidson 4 November 2011 29 August 2019
Jackson Carlaw was interim leader during this period
2   Jackson Carlaw 14 February 2020 30 July 2020
3   Douglas Ross 5 August 2020 27 September 2024
4   Russell Findlay 27 September 2024 Incumbent

Leader of the Scottish Conservative Party in the Scottish Parliament

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The position of Leader of the Scottish Conservative Party in the Scottish Parliament was originally created in 1999 and used until 2011 when the position of Leader of the Scottish Conservative Party was created. However, as a result of Douglas Ross being appointed as Leader of the Scottish Conservative Party in August 2020 and then not being a MSP but instead being an MP within the House of Commons, Ruth Davidson took on the role of Leader of the Scottish Conservative Party in the Scottish Parliament at First Ministers Questions.

No. Portrait Name Term start Term end
1   David McLetchie 6 May 1999 31 October 2005
Annabel Goldie was interim leader during this period
2   Annabel Goldie 8 November 2005 4 November 2011
3   Ruth Davidson 11 August 2020 5 May 2021

Deputy Leader of the Scottish Conservative Party

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The position of Deputy Chairman of the Scottish Conservative Party was held by Jackson Carlaw from 1992 to 1998 and Annabel Goldie from 1998 until her election as leader in 2005, after which the position listed below was created. The deputy leadership position was abolished shortly after Douglas Ross was appointed Scottish Conservative leader but was reinstated following on from the Scottish Conservative's poor performance at the 2022 Scottish local elections where Meghan Gallacher was given the position.[60]

No. Portrait Name Term start Term end
1   Murdo Fraser 31 October 2005 10 November 2011
2   Jackson Carlaw 10 November 2011 3 September 2019
3   Liam Kerr 3 September 2019 12 August 2020
4   Annie Wells 14 February 2020 12 August 2020
5   Meghan Gallacher 9 May 2022 16 August 2024
6   Rachael Hamilton 28 September 2024 Present

Central staff

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The party's registered headquarters is at Scottish Conservative Central Office (SCCO), 67 Northumberland Street, Edinburgh. Between 2001 and 2010, SCCO was housed in an office on Princes Street.[61]

The party's central staff is headed by the Director of the Party, currently James Tweedie, who serves as its chief executive. There are also three campaign managers appointed to three defined regions of Scotland.

Scottish Parliament Shadow Cabinet

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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[62]
Russell Findlay West Scotland 2021 Leader of the Scottish Conservative & Unionist Party
Murdo Fraser Mid Scotland and Fife 2001 Shadow Cabinet Secretary for Business, Economic Growth and Tourism
Liz Smith Mid Scotland and Fife 2007 Shadow Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Local Government
Douglas Lumsden North East Scotland 2016 Shadow Cabinet Secretary for Net Zero, Energy and Transport
Sandesh Gulhane Glasgow 2021 Shadow Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care
Liam Kerr North East Scotland 2016 Shadow Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills
Miles Briggs Lothian 2016 Shadow Cabinet Secretary for Social Security, Housing, and Equalities
Rachael Hamilton Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire 2016 Shadow Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs and Islands and Deputy Leader
Alexander Burnett Aberdeenshire West 2016 Chief Whip

Appointments

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House of Lords

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No. Name Date Ennobled
1. Earl of Caithness 1970 (Hereditary)
2. Earl Cathcart 2007 (Hereditary)
3. Baroness Davidson of Lundin Links 2021
4. Earl of Dundee 1983 (Hereditary)
5. Lord Fairfax of Cameron 2015 (Hereditary)
6. Lord Forsyth of Drumlean 1999
7. Baroness Fraser of Craigmaddie 2021
8. Lord Glenarthur 1977 (Hereditary)
9. Earl of Home 1996 (Hereditary)
10. Lord Keen of Elie 2015
11. Earl of Lindsay 1990 (Hereditary)
12. Lord Lamont of Lerwick 1998
13. Lord Livingston of Parkhead 2013
14. Lord Selkirk of Douglas 1997
15. Lord Stewart of Dirleton 2020
16. Lord Strathclyde 1986 (Hereditary)
17. Viscount Younger of Leckie 2010 (Hereditary)
18. Duke of Montrose 1995 (Hereditary)
19. Lord Offord of Garvel 2021
20. Lord Douglas-Miller 2023

Electoral performance

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In 2017, the Scottish Conservatives became the second-largest political party in Scotland in terms of democratic representation in the Scottish Parliament (following the 2016 Scottish Parliament election), constituencies in Scotland in the UK House of Commons (following the 2017 snap election) and in local government in Scotland (following the 2017 local elections), finishing in second place behind the Scottish National Party and overtaking the once dominant Scottish Labour.

House of Commons

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Blue indicates seats won by the Conservatives at the 2019 General Election.
Election Scotland +/–
% Seats
1826
32 / 45
1830
33 / 45
   1
1831
23 / 45
   10
1832 21.0
10 / 53
   13
1835 37.2
15 / 53
   5
1837 46.0
20 / 53
   5
1841 38.3
20 / 53
  
1847 18.3
20 / 53
  
1852 27.4
20 / 53
  
1857 15.2
14 / 53
   6
1859 33.6
13 / 53
   1
1865 14.6
11 / 53
   2
1868 17.5
7 / 60
   4
1874 31.6
20 / 60
   13
1880 29.9
8 / 60
   12
1885 34.3
10 / 72
   2
1886 46.4
29 / 72
   19
1892 44.4
21 / 72
   8
1895 47.4
33 / 72
   12
1900 49.0
38 / 72
   5
1906 38.2
12 / 72
   26
1910 Jan 39.6
11 / 72
   1
1910 Dec 42.6
12 / 72
   1
1918 32.8
32 / 74
   20
1922 25.1
15 / 74
   17
1923 31.6
16 / 74
   1
1924 40.7
38 / 74
   22
1929 35.9
22 / 74
   16
1931 54.4
50 / 74
   28
1935 48.7
35 / 72
   15
1945 40.3
27 / 72
   8
1950 44.8
31 / 70
   4
1951 48.6
35 / 72
   4
1955 50.1
36 / 72
   1
1959 47.3
31 / 72
   5
1964 40.6
24 / 72
   7
1966 37.7
20 / 72
   4
1970 38.0
23 / 72
   3
1974 Feb 32.9
21 / 72
   2
1974 Oct 24.7
16 / 72
   5
1979 31.4
22 / 72
   6
1983 28.4
21 / 72
   1
1987 24.0
10 / 72
   11
1992 25.6
11 / 72
   1
1997 17.5
0 / 72
   11
2001 15.6
1 / 72
   1
2005 15.8
1 / 59
  
2010 16.7
1 / 59
  
2015 14.9
1 / 59
  
2017 28.6
13 / 59
   12
2019 25.1
6 / 59
   7
2024 12.7
5 / 57
   1

Scottish Parliament

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Blue indicates seats won by the Conservatives in the 2021 Scottish Parliament election.
Election Constituency Regional Total seats +/– Rank Government
Votes % Seats Votes % Seats
1999 364,425 15.6
0 / 73
 359,109 15.3
18 / 56
18 / 129
     3rd Opposition
2003 318,279 16.6
3 / 73
 296,929 15.5
15 / 56
18 / 129
     3rd Opposition
2007 334,743 16.6
4 / 73
 284,035 13.9
13 / 56
17 / 129
   1   3rd Opposition
2011 276,652 13.9
3 / 73
 245,967 12.4
12 / 56
15 / 129
   2   3rd Opposition
2016 501,844 22.0
7 / 73
 524,222 22.9
24 / 56
31 / 129
   16   2nd Opposition
2021 592,526 21.9
5 / 73
 637,131 23.5
26 / 56
31 / 129
     2nd Opposition

Local councils

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2017 local election results in Scotland where blue represents Conservative.
Election % Councillors +/–
1995 11.5
82 / 1,155
1999 13.5
108 / 1,222
   26
2003 15.1
122 / 1,222
   14
2007 15.6
143 / 1,222
   21
2012 13.3
115 / 1,222
   28
2017 25.3
276 / 1,227
   161
2022 19.7
214 / 1,227
   63

District councils

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Election % Councillors +/–
1974 26.8
241 / 1,110
1977 27.2
259 / 1,107
   18
1980 24.1
232 / 1,182
   27
1984 21.4
189 / 1,182
   43
1988 19.4
162 / 1,182
   27
1992 23.2
204 / 1,158
   52

Regional councils

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Election % Councillors +/–
1974 28.6
112 / 432
1978 30.3
121 / 432
   9
1982 25.1
119 / 441
   2
1986 16.9
65 / 524
   54
1990 19.2
52 / 524
   13
1994 19.2
31 / 453
   21

European Parliament

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Election Scotland +/–
% Seats
1979 33.7
5 / 8
1984 25.8
2 / 8
   3
1989 20.9
1 / 8
   1
1994 14.5
0 / 8
   1
1999 19.8
2 / 8
   2
2004 17.8
2 / 7
  
2009 16.8
1 / 6
   1
2014 17.2
1 / 6
  
2019 11.6
1 / 6
  

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Scottish election 2021: A simple guide to the Scottish Conservatives". BBC. 19 April 2021. Archived from the original on 28 April 2021.
  2. ^
  3. ^
  4. ^
  5. ^
  6. ^ "Local Council Political Compositions". Open Council Date UK. 24 October 2019. Retrieved 24 October 2019.
  7. ^ Although officially named the Scottish Conservative & Unionist party, It is not a political party. It is registered with the UK Electoral Commission as a description and Accounting Unit (AU) of the UK Conservative Party and is therefore not a registered political party under the terms of the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000.
  8. ^ James Kellas, The Scottish Political System, p. 115
  9. ^ S Ball and I Holliday (eds), Catriona Burness, Mass Conservativism: The Conservatives and the Public Since the 1880s, pp.18–19
  10. ^ D. Torrance, Whatever Happened to Tory Scotland, p. 3–5
  11. ^ "Scots Independent — Features — Scottish quotations". Scotsindependent.org. Archived from the original on 7 November 2010. Retrieved 27 April 2010.
  12. ^ Monteith, Brian (4 January 2015). "Brian Monteith: Time for a Unionist Party?". The Scotsman.
  13. ^ "Building for Scotland" (PDF). BBC News.
  14. ^ Garnett, Mark; Phillip Lynch (2003). The Conservatives in Crisis The Tories After 1997. Manchester: Manchester University Press. p. 168.
  15. ^ Sunday Herald[dead link]
  16. ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 19 July 2011. Retrieved 13 August 2011.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  17. ^ "Holyrood 2016: Scottish Conservative manifesto at-a-glance". BBC. 13 April 2016. Retrieved 21 June 2018.
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Further reading

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  • 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
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