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The Scottish Conservative & Unionist Party ( gd, Pàrtaidh Tòraidheach na h-Alba, sco, Scots Tory an Unionist Pairty), often known simply as the Scottish Conservatives and colloquially as the Scottish Tories, is a
centre-right Centre-right politics lean to the right of the political spectrum, but are closer to the centre. From the 1780s to the 1880s, there was a shift in the Western world of social class structure and the economy, moving away from the nobility and ...
political party in Scotland. It is the second-largest party in the
Scottish Parliament The Scottish Parliament ( gd, Pàrlamaid na h-Alba ; sco, Scots Pairlament) is the devolved, unicameral legislature of Scotland. Located in the Holyrood area of the capital city, Edinburgh, it is frequently referred to by the metonym Holyr ...
and the third-largest in
Scottish local government Local government in Scotland comprises thirty-two local authorities, commonly referred to as councils. Each council provides public services, including education, social care, waste management, libraries and planning. Councils receive the majori ...
. The party has the second-largest number of Scottish MPs in the
House of Commons of the United Kingdom The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the upper house, the House of Lords, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. The House of Commons is an elected body consisting of 650 ...
and the seventh overall. The Leader of the party is Douglas Ross. He replaced
Jackson Carlaw David Jackson Carlaw (born 12 April 1959) is a Scottish politician who served as Leader of the Scottish Conservative Party from 2019 to 2020. He previously served as Deputy Leader of the Scottish Conservative Party from 2011 to 2019. He has b ...
, who briefly served from February to July 2020; Carlaw had in turn taken over from
Ruth Davidson Ruth Elizabeth Davidson, Baroness Davidson of Lundin Links (born 10 November 1978), is a Scottish politician who served as Leader of the Scottish Conservative Party from 2011 to 2019 and Leader of the Scottish Conservative Party in the Scottish ...
, who held the post from
2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrates ...
to 2019. The party has no Chief Whip at Westminster, which is instead represented by the Chief Whip of the Conservative Party in England. In the
2017 UK general election The 2017 United Kingdom general election was held on Thursday 8 June 2017, two years after the previous general election in 2015; it was the first since 1992 to be held on a day that did not coincide with any local elections. The governing C ...
, the party increased its number of MPs to 13 on 28.6 percent of the popular vote – its best performance since 1983 and in terms of votes since 1979 – but it fell back to six Westminster seats in
2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...
. In the 2016 election for the Scottish Parliament the Scottish Conservatives gained 16 seats, making it the largest opposition party, with 31 of 129 seats. In the 2021 election for the Scottish Parliament the Scottish Conservatives maintained 31 seats and remained the largest opposition party.


History


Scottish Conservatism pre-1912

Before 1912, the Conservative Party organised in Scotland. With the emergence of mass party political organisations 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 The National Conservative Convention (NCC), is the most senior body of the Conservative Party's voluntary wing. The National Convention effectively serves as the Party's internal Parliament, and is made up of its 800 highest-ranking Party Office ...
), emerged in 1882, organising a distinct Conservative conference in Scotland. A previous organisation, the Scottish National Constitutional Association, existed from 1867, with the patronage of UK party leader
Benjamin Disraeli Benjamin Disraeli, 1st Earl of Beaconsfield, (21 December 1804 – 19 April 1881) was a British statesman and Conservative politician who twice served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. He played a central role in the creation ...
.
The Scotsman ''The Scotsman'' is a Scottish compact newspaper and daily news website headquartered in Edinburgh. First established as a radical political paper in 1817, it began daily publication in 1855 and remained a broadsheet until August 2004. Its pare ...
newspaper reported that following the 1874 election " Conservative Clubs and Working Men's Conservative Associations have spring up like mushrooms in all parts of cotland. From the Representation of the People Act 1884 until 1918, the
Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. __TOC__ Active liberal parties This is a li ...
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 The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. __TOC__ Active liberal parties This is a li ...
in opposition to
William Gladstone William Ewart Gladstone ( ; 29 December 1809 – 19 May 1898) was a British statesman and Liberal politician. In a career lasting over 60 years, he served for 12 years as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, spread over four non-conse ...
's proposals for
Irish Home Rule The Irish Home Rule movement was a movement that campaigned for self-government (or "home rule") for Ireland within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. It was the dominant political movement of Irish nationalism from 1870 to the ...
. 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)

Following the merger of the Conservatives and Liberal Unionists to create the modern
Conservative and Unionist Party The Conservative Party, officially the Conservative and Unionist Party and also known colloquially as the Tories, is one of the two main political parties in the United Kingdom, along with the Labour Party. It is the current governing 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. 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 Andrew Bonar Law ( ; 16 September 1858 – 30 October 1923) was a British Conservative politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from October 1922 to May 1923. Law was born in the British colony of New Brunswick (now ...
and
Alec Douglas-Home Alexander Frederick Douglas-Home, Baron Home of the Hirsel (; 2 July 1903 – 9 October 1995), styled as Lord Dunglass between 1918 and 1951 and being The 14th Earl of Home from 1951 till 1963, was a British Conservative politician who s ...
– and uniquely among parties in the post-war period, achieved more than half of the popular vote within Scotland in the
1931 general election Events January * January 2 – South Dakota native Ernest Lawrence invents the cyclotron, used to accelerate particles to study nuclear physics. * January 4 – German pilot Elly Beinhorn begins her flight to Africa. * January 22 – ...
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 The Conservative Party, officially the Conservative and Unionist Party and also known colloquially as the Tories, is one of the two main political parties in the United Kingdom, along with the Labour Party. It is the current governing party, ...
in 1968 alongside the Unionist Party which had already merged into the
Conservative and Unionist Party The Conservative Party, officially the Conservative and Unionist Party and also known colloquially as the Tories, is one of the two main political parties in the United Kingdom, along with the Labour Party. It is the current governing party, ...
in 1965. While taking the Conservative
whip A whip is a tool or weapon designed to strike humans or other animals to exert control through pain compliance or fear of pain. They can also be used without inflicting pain, for audiovisual cues, such as in equestrianism. They are generally ...
in the
House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. T ...
, the Unionist Party had a lengthy "unionist-nationalist" tradition, emphasising its Scottish identity within the United Kingdom and the
British Empire The British Empire was composed of the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It began with the overseas possessions and trading posts e ...
. This was represented by elected members such as
John Buchan John Buchan, 1st Baron Tweedsmuir (; 26 August 1875 – 11 February 1940) was a Scottish novelist, historian, and Unionist politician who served as Governor General of Canada, the 15th since Canadian Confederation. After a brief legal career ...
(who said "I believe every Scotsman should be a Scottish nationalist") and those former Unionists who in 1932 founded the pro-
home rule Home rule is government of a colony, dependent country, or region by its own citizens. It is thus the power of a part (administrative division) of a state or an external dependent country to exercise such of the state's powers of governance wi ...
Scottish Party The Scottish (Self-Government) Party was a Scottish nationalist political party formed in 1932 by a group of members of the Unionist Party who favoured the establishment of a Dominion Scottish Parliament within the British Empire. The Scottish ...
(which later merged with the
National Party of Scotland The National Party of Scotland (NPS) was a centre-left political party in Scotland which was one of the predecessors of the current Scottish National Party (SNP). The NPS was the first Scottish nationalist political party, and the first which c ...
to form the Scottish National Party).


Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party

Following a decline in performance, coming second to the Labour Party in seats through 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. However its electoral fortunes continued to decline throughout the 1960s. Following
Harold Wilson James Harold Wilson, Baron Wilson of Rievaulx, (11 March 1916 – 24 May 1995) was a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from October 1964 to June 1970, and again from March 1974 to April 1976. He ...
'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 Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (; 13 October 19258 April 2013) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party from 1975 to 1990. She was the first female British prime ...
, but her tenure as
Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is ...
was to see the party's fortunes drop further from holding 22 seats in
1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the '' International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the '' Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the so ...
to 10 in
1987 File:1987 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The MS Herald of Free Enterprise capsizes after leaving the Port of Zeebrugge in Belgium, killing 193; Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashes after takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Airport, ...
. The party increased its share of the vote and number of MPs to 11 in
1992 File:1992 Events Collage V1.png, From left, clockwise: Riots break out across Los Angeles, California after the police beating of Rodney King; El Al Flight 1862 crashes into a residential apartment building in Amsterdam after two of its engin ...
under
John Major Sir John Major (born 29 March 1943) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 1990 to 1997, and as Member of Parliament (MP) for Huntingdon, formerly Hunting ...
'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 The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a multi-national coalition in an invasion of Afghanist ...
,
2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; " Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discover ...
,
2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...
and
2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the April ...
general elections, before winning 13 seats in
2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a s ...
. 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.


Scottish devolution

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 The Scottish Assembly was a proposed legislature for Scotland that would have devolved a set list of powers from the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The Labour Government led the Scotland Act 1978 through Westminster which provided for ...
, including in the so-called
Declaration of Perth The Declaration of Perth was a statement made by British Conservative Party leader Edward Heath on 18 May 1968, at the party conference in Perth, Scotland, which committed the party to supporting some form of Scottish devolution. Background Th ...
in 1968 under UK party leader
Edward Heath Sir Edward Richard George Heath (9 July 191617 July 2005), often known as Ted Heath, was a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1970 to 1974 and Leader of the Conservative Party from 1965 to 1975. Heath a ...
. John Major, while endorsing further powers for the
Scottish Grand Committee The Scottish Grand Committee is a committee of the House of Commons. It is not a select committee (see Scottish Affairs Select Committee), but rather a grand committee composed of all 59 Scottish MPs (72 MPs prior to 2005). It has its origins i ...
and the
Scottish Office The Scottish Office was a department of the Government of the United Kingdom from 1885 until 1999, exercising a wide range of government functions in relation to Scotland under the control of the Secretary of State for Scotland. Following the es ...
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 Ayr (; sco, Ayr; gd, Inbhir Àir, "Mouth of the River Ayr") is a town situated on the southwest coast of Scotland. It is the administrative centre of the South Ayrshire council area and the historic county town of Ayrshire. With a population ...
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 The Christian Social Union in Bavaria (German: , CSU) is a Christian-democratic and conservative political party in Germany. Having a regionalist identity, the CSU operates only in Bavaria while its larger counterpart, the Christian Democratic ...
and the Christian Democratic Union in Germany. The move was opposed by the other three candidates. 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 Commission on Scottish Devolution ( gd, Coimisean Fèin-riaghlaidh na h-Alba, sco, Commeessioun on Scots Devolutioun), also referred to as the Calman Commission or the Scottish Parliament Commission or Review, was established by an oppositi ...
. 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 A independence referendum, referendum on Scottish independence from the United Kingdom was held in Scotland on 18 September 2014. The referendum question was, "Should Scotland be an independent country?", which voters answered with "Yes" ...
. Although a Conservative majority government was returned in Westminster in the 2015 general election,
David Mundell David Gordon Mundell, (born 27 May 1962) is a Scottish politician and solicitor who served as Secretary of State for Scotland from 2015 to 2019. A member of the Scottish Conservative Party, he has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Du ...
remained their only MP elected in Scotland and was appointed
Secretary of State for Scotland The secretary of state for Scotland ( gd, Rùnaire Stàite na h-Alba; sco, Secretar o State fir Scotland), also referred to as the Scottish secretary, is a Secretary of State (United Kingdom), secretary of state in the Government of the Unit ...
. He replaced
Liberal Democrat Several political parties from around the world have been called the Liberal Democratic Party or Liberal Democrats. These parties usually follow a liberal democratic ideology. Active parties Former parties See also *Liberal democracy *Lib ...
incumbents who served during the 2010–15 Coalition government. The UK Government set about implementing the recommendations of the cross-party
Smith Commission The Smith Commission was announced by Prime Minister David Cameron on 19 September 2014 in the wake of the 'No' vote in the 2014 Scottish independence referendum. The establishment of the commission was part of the process of fulfilling The Vow ...
.


Recent elections


2011 Scottish Parliament election

Annabel Goldie Annabel MacNicoll Goldie, Baroness Goldie (born 27 February 1950) is a Scottish politician and life peer who served as Leader of the Scottish Conservative Party from 2005 to 2011 and has served as Minister of State for Defence since 2019. She ...
led the party into the
2011 Scottish Parliament election The 2011 Scottish Parliament election was held on Thursday, 5 May 2011 to elect 129 members to the Scottish Parliament. The election delivered the first majority government since the opening of Holyrood, a remarkable feat as the Additional M ...
, 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. With an SNP majority delivered, the Scottish Conservatives were reduced from 17 seats to 15, losing the Edinburgh Pentlands constituency to the SNP, seeing notional loses in
Eastwood Eastwood may refer to: Places ;in Australia *Eastwood, New South Wales **Eastwood railway station ** Electoral district of Eastwood *Eastwood, South Australia ;in Canada * Eastwood, Ontario *Eastwood, Edmonton, Alberta, a neighborhood ;in the P ...
and
Dumfriesshire Dumfriesshire or the County of Dumfries or Shire of Dumfries (''Siorrachd Dhùn Phris'' in Gaelic) is a historic county and registration county in southern Scotland. The Dumfries lieutenancy area covers a similar area to the historic county. I ...
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 Ruth Elizabeth Davidson, Baroness Davidson of Lundin Links (born 10 November 1978), is a Scottish politician who served as Leader of the Scottish Conservative Party from 2011 to 2019 and Leader of the Scottish Conservative Party in the Scottish ...
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 A banyan, also spelled "banian", is a fig that develops accessory trunks from adventitious prop roots, allowing the tree to spread outwards indefinitely. This distinguishes banyans from other trees with a strangler habit that begin life as a ...
(or Indian Fig) tree logo with a "union saltire".


2015 UK general election

The Conservatives made little advance at the
2015 UK general election The 2015 United Kingdom general election was held on Thursday, 7 May 2015 to elect 650 members to the House of Commons. It was the first and only general election held at the end of a Parliament under the Fixed-term Parliaments Act 2011. Local ...
compared to 2010, with Scotland's sole Conservative MP
David Mundell David Gordon Mundell, (born 27 May 1962) is a Scottish politician and solicitor who served as Secretary of State for Scotland from 2015 to 2019. A member of the Scottish Conservative Party, he has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Du ...
holding on to his
Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale is a United Kingdom constituencies, constituency of the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons, located in the South of Scotland, within the Dumfries and Galloway, South Lanarkshire and S ...
constituency with a reduced majority of just 798 votes ahead of the SNP's
Emma Harper Emma Harper is a Scottish National Party (SNP) politician. She has been a Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for the South Scotland region since the 2016 Scottish Parliament election. Early life Harper was born and raised on a farm near ...
. The Conservatives made no seat gains at the election in Scotland, with Conservative targets such as
Argyll and Bute Argyll and Bute ( sco, Argyll an Buit; gd, Earra-Ghàidheal agus Bòd, ) is one of 32 unitary authority council areas in Scotland and a lieutenancy area. The current lord-lieutenant for Argyll and Bute is Jane Margaret MacLeod (14 July 2020) ...
; West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine and Angus being won by the Scottish National Party with an increased majority compared to 2010. In spite of this, the Conservatives narrowly missed out on having 2 MP's elected in Scotland, missing out in the Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk constituency by only 328 votes behind the SNP's
Calum Kerr Calum Robert Kerr (born 5 April 1972) is a Scottish National Party politician who was the Member of Parliament for Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk from 2015 to 2017. During his tenure in Parliament, he was the SNP's Environment and Rural Aff ...
: this was the most marginal result in Scotland and the eighth most marginal result in the United Kingdom.


2016 Scottish Parliament election

At the
2016 Scottish Parliament election The 2016 Scottish parliament election was held on Thursday, 5 May 2016 to elect 129 members to the Scottish Parliament. It was the fifth election held since the devolved parliament was established in 1999. It was the first parliamentary electio ...
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 The Right to Buy scheme is a policy in the United Kingdom, with the exception of Scotland since 1 August 2016 and Wales from 26 January 2019, which gives secure tenants of councils and some housing associations the legal right to buy, at a large ...
scheme in Scotland. 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. 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 Scottish Labour ( gd, Pàrtaidh Làbarach na h-Alba, sco, Scots Labour Pairty; officially the Scottish Labour Party) is a social democratic political party in Scotland. It is an autonomous section of the UK Labour Party. From their peak of ...
. On the constituency element of the vote the Conservatives held on to their three
first past the post In a first-past-the-post electoral system (FPTP or FPP), formally called single-member plurality voting (SMP) when used in single-member districts or informally choose-one voting in contrast to ranked voting, or score voting, voters cast thei ...
constituency seats (
Ayr Ayr (; sco, Ayr; gd, Inbhir Àir, "Mouth of the River Ayr") is a town situated on the southwest coast of Scotland. It is the administrative centre of the South Ayrshire council area and the historic county town of Ayrshire. With a population ...
; Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire and Galloway and West Dumfries), making gains in Aberdeenshire West;
Dumfriesshire Dumfriesshire or the County of Dumfries or Shire of Dumfries (''Siorrachd Dhùn Phris'' in Gaelic) is a historic county and registration county in southern Scotland. The Dumfries lieutenancy area covers a similar area to the historic county. I ...
;
Eastwood Eastwood may refer to: Places ;in Australia *Eastwood, New South Wales **Eastwood railway station ** Electoral district of Eastwood *Eastwood, South Australia ;in Canada * Eastwood, Ontario *Eastwood, Edmonton, Alberta, a neighborhood ;in the P ...
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 The 1992 United Kingdom general election was held on Thursday 9 April 1992, to elect 651 members to the House of Commons. The election resulted in the fourth consecutive victory for the Conservative Party since 1979 and would be the last ti ...
.


2017 UK general election

Campaigning in opposition to proposals put forward by
Nicola Sturgeon Nicola Ferguson Sturgeon (born 19 July 1970) is a Scottish politician serving as First Minister of Scotland and Leader of the Scottish National Party (SNP) since 2014. She is the first woman to hold either position. She has been a member of ...
and the
Scottish Parliament The Scottish Parliament ( gd, Pàrlamaid na h-Alba ; sco, Scots Pairlament) is the devolved, unicameral legislature of Scotland. Located in the Holyrood area of the capital city, Edinburgh, it is frequently referred to by the metonym Holyr ...
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 The year 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to TCP/IP is officially completed (this is considered to be the beginning ...
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 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the '' International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the '' Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the so ...
, 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 Ayr, Carrick, and Cumnock is a county constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It was created for the 2005 general election from parts of the old Ayr and Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley cons ...
; Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk; and
Dumfries and Galloway Dumfries and Galloway ( sco, Dumfries an Gallowa; gd, Dùn Phrìs is Gall-Ghaidhealaibh) is one of 32 unitary council areas of Scotland and is located in the western Southern Uplands. It covers the historic counties of Dumfriesshire, Kirkc ...
constituencies to the south of the country, and gained
East Renfrewshire East Renfrewshire ( sco, Aest Renfrewshire; gd, Siorrachd Rinn Friù an Ear) is one of 32 council areas of Scotland. Until 1975, it formed part of the county of Renfrewshire for local government purposes along with the modern council areas ...
on the outskirts of
Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popu ...
. The Conservatives also took a majority of seats in the North East of Scotland, gaining former
First Minister of Scotland The first minister of Scotland ( sco, heid meinister o Scotland; gd, prìomh mhinistear na h-Alba ) is the head of the Scottish Government and keeper of the Great Seal of Scotland. The first minister chair ...
Alex Salmond's
Gordon Gordon may refer to: People * Gordon (given name), a masculine given name, including list of persons and fictional characters * Gordon (surname), the surname * Gordon (slave), escaped to a Union Army camp during the U.S. Civil War * Clan Gordon, ...
constituency, alongside
Moray Moray () gd, Moireibh or ') is one of the 32 local government council areas of Scotland. It lies in the north-east of the country, with a coastline on the Moray Firth, and borders the council areas of Aberdeenshire and Highland (council area), ...
, the seat of the SNP's Westminster leader
Angus Robertson Angus Struan Carolus Robertson (born 28 September 1969) is a Scottish politician serving as the Cabinet Secretary for the Constitution, External Affairs and Culture since 2021. Former Depute Leader of the Scottish National Party (SNP) from 201 ...
. Other gains for the party in the North East included Aberdeen South; Angus;
Banff and Buchan Banff and Buchan is a committee area of the Aberdeenshire Council, Scotland. It has a population of 35,742 (2001 Census). Fishing and agriculture are important industries, together with associated processing and service activity. Banff and Bucha ...
; and West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine. The party took the
Ochil and South Perthshire Ochil and South Perthshire is a county constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first-past-the-post system of election. The constituency was created for the 2 ...
; and
Stirling Stirling (; sco, Stirlin; gd, Sruighlea ) is a city in central Scotland, northeast of Glasgow and north-west of Edinburgh. The market town, surrounded by rich farmland, grew up connecting the royal citadel, the medieval old town with its me ...
constituencies in central Scotland and missed out to the SNP in Perth and North Perthshire by just 21 votes.


2019 European elections

The Scottish Conservatives retained their single seat in the
European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the Legislature, legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven Institutions of the European Union, institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and in ...
at the
2019 European Parliament election The 2019 European Parliament election was held between 23 and 26 May 2019, the ninth parliamentary election since the first direct elections in 1979. A total of 751 Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) represent more than 512 million peop ...
. Incumbent MEP
Nosheena Mobarik Nosheena Shaheen Mobarik, Baroness Mobarik , (born 16 October 1957) is a British Conservative politician and Life Peer. She served as a Member of European Parliament for Scotland from 2017 to 2020. Early life and education Mobarik was born ...
was reelected.


2019 UK general election

On 29 August 2019, Davidson stood down citing several political and personal reasons for her decision to resign as leader. The Scottish Conservatives lost more than half of their seats in Scotland to the
Scottish National Party The Scottish National Party (SNP; sco, Scots National Pairty, gd, Pàrtaidh Nàiseanta na h-Alba ) is a Scottish nationalist and social democratic political party in Scotland. The SNP supports and campaigns for Scottish independence from th ...
in the December 2019 general election, with a 3.5% swing away from the party. The lost seats were Aberdeen South; Angus;
Ayr, Carrick and Cumnock Ayr, Carrick, and Cumnock is a county constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It was created for the 2005 general election from parts of the old Ayr and Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley cons ...
;
East Renfrewshire East Renfrewshire ( sco, Aest Renfrewshire; gd, Siorrachd Rinn Friù an Ear) is one of 32 council areas of Scotland. Until 1975, it formed part of the county of Renfrewshire for local government purposes along with the modern council areas ...
;
Gordon Gordon may refer to: People * Gordon (given name), a masculine given name, including list of persons and fictional characters * Gordon (surname), the surname * Gordon (slave), escaped to a Union Army camp during the U.S. Civil War * Clan Gordon, ...
;
Ochil and South Perthshire Ochil and South Perthshire is a county constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first-past-the-post system of election. The constituency was created for the 2 ...
; and
Stirling Stirling (; sco, Stirlin; gd, Sruighlea ) is a city in central Scotland, northeast of Glasgow and north-west of Edinburgh. The market town, surrounded by rich farmland, grew up connecting the royal citadel, the medieval old town with its me ...
.


2021 Scottish Parliament election

Douglas Ross led the Scottish Conservatives into the
2021 Scottish Parliament election The 2021 Scottish Parliament election took place on 6 May 2021, under the provisions of the Scotland Act 1998. All 129 Members of the Scottish Parliament were elected in the sixth election since the parliament was re-established in 1999. The e ...
. The party lost two constituencies it was defending (
Ayr Ayr (; sco, Ayr; gd, Inbhir Àir, "Mouth of the River Ayr") is a town situated on the southwest coast of Scotland. It is the administrative centre of the South Ayrshire council area and the historic county town of Ayrshire. With a population ...
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. 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.


2022 Scottish local elections

The Scottish Conservatives lost 63 seats at the
2022 Scottish local elections The 2022 Scottish local elections were held on 5 May 2022, as part of the 2022 United Kingdom local elections. All 1,226 seats across all 32 Scottish local authorities were up for election and voter turnout was 44.8%. Compared to the previous ...
, 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 The Scottish Liberal Democrats ( gd, Pàrtaidh Libearal Deamocratach na h-Alba, sco, Scots Leeberal Democrats) is a liberal, federalist political party in Scotland, a part of the United Kingdom Liberal Democrats. The party currently holds 4 of ...
, again to The Scottish National Party, who attracted a record share of the vote and councillors across Scotland. Douglas Ross blamed the poor performance on
Partygate Partygate was a political scandal in the United Kingdom about parties and other gatherings of government and Conservative Party staff held during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and 2021, when public health restrictions prohibited most gather ...
, 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

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 Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (; born 19 June 1964) is a British politician, writer and journalist who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2019 to 2022. He previously served as ...
and
Liz Truss Mary Elizabeth Truss (born 26 July 1975) is a British politician who briefly served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from September to October 2022. On her fiftieth day in office, she stepped dow ...
' premiership controversies, with two polls in December 2022 showing support for the party plummeting to 13%, behind
Scottish Labour Scottish Labour ( gd, Pàrtaidh Làbarach na h-Alba, sco, Scots Labour Pairty; officially the Scottish Labour Party) is a social democratic political party in Scotland. It is an autonomous section of the UK Labour Party. From their peak of ...
who were averaging 25% and The Scottish National Party averaging 50%, along with rising support for
Scottish Independence Scottish independence ( gd, Neo-eisimeileachd na h-Alba; sco, Scots unthirldom) is the idea of Scotland as a sovereign state, independent from the United Kingdom, and refers to the political movement that is campaigning to bring it about. ...
. 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.


Policies and ideology

The Scottish Conservatives are a
centre-right Centre-right politics lean to the right of the political spectrum, but are closer to the centre. From the 1780s to the 1880s, there was a shift in the Western world of social class structure and the economy, moving away from the nobility and ...
and
conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...
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 David William Donald Cameron (born 9 October 1966) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2010 to 2016 and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2005 to 2016. He previously served as Leader o ...
, 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 The West Lothian question, also known as the English question, is a political issue in the United Kingdom. It concerns the question of whether MPs from Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales who sit in the House of Commons should be able to vote ...
must be answered from a Unionist perspective". 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." 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 Scottish Labour ( gd, Pàrtaidh Làbarach na h-Alba, sco, Scots Labour Pairty; officially the Scottish Labour Party) is a social democratic political party in Scotland. It is an autonomous section of the UK Labour Party. From their peak of ...
and the
Scottish Liberal Democrats The Scottish Liberal Democrats ( gd, Pàrtaidh Libearal Deamocratach na h-Alba, sco, Scots Leeberal Democrats) is a liberal, federalist political party in Scotland, a part of the United Kingdom Liberal Democrats. The party currently holds 4 of ...
, 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 want to create a more business friendly environment in Scotland, increase funding for the police and frontline workers, enact stricter law & order policies to tackle violent crime, drug and alcohol misuse, and give more support to Scotland's rural communities. The party has evolved to support Scottish devolution 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. At the 2019 general election, the Scottish Conservatives pledged opposition to a
proposed second Scottish independence referendum A second referendum (commonly referred to as indyref2) on independence from the United Kingdom (UK) has been proposed by the Scottish Government. An independence referendum was first held on 18 September 2014, with 55% voting "No" to indepen ...
, delivering on
Brexit Brexit (; a portmanteau of "British exit") was the Withdrawal from the European Union, withdrawal of the United Kingdom (UK) from the European Union (EU) at 23:00 Greenwich Mean Time, GMT on 31 January 2020 (00:00 1 February 2020 Central Eur ...
and to strengthen the
United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and ...
. 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 The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...
.


Party organisation

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.


Leader of the Scottish Conservative Party

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. The position of leader is currently held by Douglas Ross.{{cite web, url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-53655975, title= Douglas Ross confirmed as Scottish Conservative leader, website=BBC News, publisher=BBC, date=5 August 2020, access-date=5 August 2020 {, class="wikitable" font-size="85%" style="text-align:center;" , - ! No. ! Portrait ! Name ! Term start ! Term end , - , 1 , , , ,
Ruth Davidson Ruth Elizabeth Davidson, Baroness Davidson of Lundin Links (born 10 November 1978), is a Scottish politician who served as Leader of the Scottish Conservative Party from 2011 to 2019 and Leader of the Scottish Conservative Party in the Scottish ...
, , 2011 Scottish Conservative Party leadership election, 4 November 2011 , , 29 August 2019 , - , colspan=6 , ''
Jackson Carlaw David Jackson Carlaw (born 12 April 1959) is a Scottish politician who served as Leader of the Scottish Conservative Party from 2019 to 2020. He previously served as Deputy Leader of the Scottish Conservative Party from 2011 to 2019. He has b ...
was interim leader during this period'' , - , 2 , , , ,
Jackson Carlaw David Jackson Carlaw (born 12 April 1959) is a Scottish politician who served as Leader of the Scottish Conservative Party from 2019 to 2020. He previously served as Deputy Leader of the Scottish Conservative Party from 2011 to 2019. He has b ...
, , February 2020 Scottish Conservative Party leadership election, 14 February 2020 , , 30 July 2020 , - , 3 , , , , Douglas Ross , , August 2020 Scottish Conservative Party leadership election, 5 August 2020 , , Incumbent , -


Leader of the Scottish Conservative Party in the Scottish Parliament

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 Ruth Elizabeth Davidson, Baroness Davidson of Lundin Links (born 10 November 1978), is a Scottish politician who served as Leader of the Scottish Conservative Party from 2011 to 2019 and Leader of the Scottish Conservative Party in the Scottish ...
took on the role of Leader of the Scottish Conservative Party in the Scottish Parliament at First Ministers Questions. {, class="wikitable" font-size="85%" style="text-align:center;" , - ! No. ! Portrait ! Name ! Term start ! Term end , - , 1 , , , , David McLetchie , , 1998 Scottish Conservative Party leadership election, 6 May 1999 , , 31 October 2005 , - , 2 , , , ,
Annabel Goldie Annabel MacNicoll Goldie, Baroness Goldie (born 27 February 1950) is a Scottish politician and life peer who served as Leader of the Scottish Conservative Party from 2005 to 2011 and has served as Minister of State for Defence since 2019. She ...
, , 2005 Scottish Conservative Party leadership election, 31 October 2005 , , 4 November 2011 , - , 3 , , , ,
Ruth Davidson Ruth Elizabeth Davidson, Baroness Davidson of Lundin Links (born 10 November 1978), is a Scottish politician who served as Leader of the Scottish Conservative Party from 2011 to 2019 and Leader of the Scottish Conservative Party in the Scottish ...
, , 11 August 2020 , , 5 May 2021


Deputy Leader of the Scottish Conservative Party

The position of Deputy Chairman of the Scottish Conservative Party was held by
Jackson Carlaw David Jackson Carlaw (born 12 April 1959) is a Scottish politician who served as Leader of the Scottish Conservative Party from 2019 to 2020. He previously served as Deputy Leader of the Scottish Conservative Party from 2011 to 2019. He has b ...
from 1992 to 1998 and
Annabel Goldie Annabel MacNicoll Goldie, Baroness Goldie (born 27 February 1950) is a Scottish politician and life peer who served as Leader of the Scottish Conservative Party from 2005 to 2011 and has served as Minister of State for Defence since 2019. She ...
from 1998 until her 2005 Scottish Conservative Party leadership election, 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 The 2022 Scottish local elections were held on 5 May 2022, as part of the 2022 United Kingdom local elections. All 1,226 seats across all 32 Scottish local authorities were up for election and voter turnout was 44.8%. Compared to the previous ...
where Meghan Gallacher was given the position. {, class="wikitable" font-size="85%" style="text-align:center;" , - ! No. ! Portrait ! Name ! Term start ! Term end , - , 1 , , , , Murdo Fraser , , 31 October 2005 , , 10 November 2011 , - , 2 , , , ,
Jackson Carlaw David Jackson Carlaw (born 12 April 1959) is a Scottish politician who served as Leader of the Scottish Conservative Party from 2019 to 2020. He previously served as Deputy Leader of the Scottish Conservative Party from 2011 to 2019. He has b ...
, , 10 November 2011 , , 3 September 2019 , - , 3 , , , , Liam Kerr , , 3 September 2019 , , 12 August 2020 , - , 4 , , , , Annie Wells (politician), Annie Wells , , 14 February 2020 , , 12 August 2020 , - , 5 , , , , Meghan Gallacher , , 9 May 2022 , , Incumbent , -


Central staff

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.{{cite web, author=Hello , url=http://www.scotsman.com/news/politics/top-stories/general-election-2010-scots-tories-lose-plush-capital-office-1-1237308 , title=General Election 2010: Scots Tories lose plush Capital office , publisher=The Scotsman , date=11 May 2010 , access-date=1 July 2016 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

The front bench formulates the party's policy on issues Devolution, devolved to the
Scottish Parliament The Scottish Parliament ( gd, Pàrlamaid na h-Alba ; sco, Scots Pairlament) is the devolved, unicameral legislature of Scotland. Located in the Holyrood area of the capital city, Edinburgh, it is frequently referred to by the metonym Holyr ...
. {, class="sortable wikitable" , - ! Member of the Scottish Parliament !! Scottish Parliament constituencies and regions, Constituency or Region !! First elected!! Current Role{{cite web , last1=Hutcheon , first1=Paul , title=Douglas Ross announces new Scottish Conservatives team after shadow cabinet reshuffle , url=https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/politics/douglas-ross-announces-new-scottish-24151175 , website=Daily Record , date=20 May 2021 , access-date=22 May 2021 , - , Douglas Ross , , Highlands and Islands (Scottish Parliament electoral region), Highlands and Islands, , 2021 Scottish Parliament election, 2021 , Leader of the Scottish Conservative & Unionist Party , - , Murdo Fraser , , Mid Scotland and Fife (Scottish Parliament electoral region), Mid Scotland and Fife, , 2001 , , Shadow Cabinet Secretary for Covid Recovery , - , Liz Smith (politician), Liz Smith , , Mid Scotland and Fife (Scottish Parliament electoral region), Mid Scotland and Fife, , 2007 Scottish Parliament election, 2007 , , Shadow Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Economy , - , Oliver Mundell , ,
Dumfriesshire Dumfriesshire or the County of Dumfries or Shire of Dumfries (''Siorrachd Dhùn Phris'' in Gaelic) is a historic county and registration county in southern Scotland. The Dumfries lieutenancy area covers a similar area to the historic county. I ...
, , 2016 Scottish Parliament election, 2016 , , Shadow Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills , - , Annie Wells (politician), Annie Wells , , Glasgow (Scottish Parliament electoral region), Glasgow , , 2016 Scottish Parliament election, 2016 , , Shadow Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care , - , Jamie Greene , , West Scotland (Scottish Parliament electoral region), West Scotland , , 2016 Scottish Parliament election, 2016 , , Shadow Cabinet Secretary for Justice , - , Liam Kerr , , North East Scotland (Scottish Parliament electoral region), North East Scotland , , 2016 Scottish Parliament election, 2016 , , Shadow Cabinet Secretary for Net Zero, Energy and Transport , - , Miles Briggs , , Lothian (Scottish Parliament electoral region), Lothian , , 2016 Scottish Parliament election, 2016 , , Shadow Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice, Housing and Local Government , - , Rachael Hamilton , , Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire , , 2016 Scottish Parliament election, 2016 , , Shadow Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs and Islands , - , Donald Cameron (Scottish politician), Donald Cameron , , Highlands and Islands (Scottish Parliament electoral region), Highlands and Islands , , 2016 Scottish Parliament election, 2016 , , Shadow Cabinet Secretary for Constitution, External Affairs and Culture , - , Stephen Kerr , , Central Scotland (Scottish Parliament electoral region), Central Scotland , , 2021 Scottish Parliament election, 2021 , , Chief Whip (as well as Douglas Ross' reserve for First Minister's Questions (Scottish Parliament), First Minister's Questions)


Appointments


House of Lords

{, class="wikitable" , + , - ! No. !! Name !! Date Ennobled , - , 1. , , Malcolm Sinclair, 20th Earl of Caithness, Earl of Caithness , , 1970 (Hereditary) , - , 2. , , Charles Cathcart, 7th Earl Cathcart, Earl Cathcart , , 2007 (Hereditary) , - , 3. , , Baroness Davidson of Lundin Links , , 2021 , - , 4. , , Alexander Scrymgeour, 12th Earl of Dundee, Earl of Dundee , , 1983 (Hereditary) , - , 5. , , Nicholas Fairfax, 14th Lord Fairfax of Cameron, Lord Fairfax of Cameron , , 2015 (Hereditary) , - , 6. , , Lord Forsyth of Drumlean , , 1999 , - , 7. , , Baroness Fraser of Craigmaddie , , 2021 , - , 8. , , Simon Arthur, 4th Baron Glenarthur, Lord Glenarthur , , 1977 (Hereditary) , - , 9. , , David Douglas-Home, 15th Earl of Home, Earl of Home , , 1996 (Hereditary) , - , 10. , , Lord Keen of Elie , , 2015 , - , 11. , , James Lindesay-Bethune, 16th Earl of Lindsay, Earl of Lindsay , , 1990 (Hereditary) , - , 12. , , Lord Lamont of Lerwick , , 1998 , - , 13. , , Ian Livingston, Baron Livingston of Parkhead, Lord Livingston of Parkhead , , 2013 , - , 14. , , Lord Selkirk of Douglas , , 1997 , - , 15. , , Keith Stewart, Baron Stewart of Dirleton, Lord Stewart of Dirleton , , 2020 , - , 16. , , Thomas Galbraith, 2nd Baron Strathclyde, Lord Strathclyde , , 1986 (Hereditary) , - , 17. , , James Younger, 5th Viscount Younger of Leckie, Viscount Younger of Leckie , , 2010 (Hereditary) , - , 18. , , James Graham, 8th Duke of Montrose, Duke of Montrose , , 1995 (Hereditary) , - , 19. , , Malcolm Offord, Lord Offord of Garvel , , 2021


Electoral performance

In 2017, the Scottish Conservatives became the second-largest Scottish politics, political party in Scotland in terms of democratic representation in the
Scottish Parliament The Scottish Parliament ( gd, Pàrlamaid na h-Alba ; sco, Scots Pairlament) is the devolved, unicameral legislature of Scotland. Located in the Holyrood area of the capital city, Edinburgh, it is frequently referred to by the metonym Holyr ...
(following the
2016 Scottish Parliament election The 2016 Scottish parliament election was held on Thursday, 5 May 2016 to elect 129 members to the Scottish Parliament. It was the fifth election held since the devolved parliament was established in 1999. It was the first parliamentary electio ...
), constituencies in Scotland in the UK House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons (following the 2017 United Kingdom general election, 2017 snap election) and in local government in Scotland (following the 2017 local elections), finishing in second place behind the
Scottish National Party The Scottish National Party (SNP; sco, Scots National Pairty, gd, Pàrtaidh Nàiseanta na h-Alba ) is a Scottish nationalist and social democratic political party in Scotland. The SNP supports and campaigns for Scottish independence from th ...
and overtaking the once dominant
Scottish Labour Scottish Labour ( gd, Pàrtaidh Làbarach na h-Alba, sco, Scots Labour Pairty; officially the Scottish Labour Party) is a social democratic political party in Scotland. It is an autonomous section of the UK Labour Party. From their peak of ...
.


House of Commons

{, class="wikitable" style="text-align:right; font-size:86%;" , - ! rowspan=2, Election ! colspan=2, Scotland ! rowspan=2, +/– , - ! % ! Seats , - ! 1826 United Kingdom general election, 1826 , , {{Composition bar, 32, 45, #0087DC , , - ! 1830 United Kingdom general election, 1830 , , {{Composition bar, 33, 45, #0087DC , {{increase 1 , - ! 1831 United Kingdom general election, 1831 , , {{Composition bar, 23, 45, #0087DC , {{decrease 10 , - ! 1832 United Kingdom general election, 1832 , 21.0 , {{Composition bar, 10, 53, #0087DC , {{decrease 13 , - ! 1835 United Kingdom general election, 1835 , 37.2 , {{Composition bar, 15, 53, #0087DC , {{increase 5 , - ! 1837 United Kingdom general election, 1837 , 46.0 , {{Composition bar, 20, 53, #0087DC , {{increase 5 , - ! 1841 United Kingdom general election, 1841 , 38.3 , {{Composition bar, 20, 53, #0087DC , {{steady , - ! 1847 United Kingdom general election, 1847 , 18.3 , {{Composition bar, 20, 53, #0087DC , {{steady , - ! 1852 United Kingdom general election, 1852 , 27.4 , {{Composition bar, 20, 53, #0087DC , {{steady , - ! 1857 United Kingdom general election, 1857 , 15.2 , {{Composition bar, 14, 53, #0087DC , {{decrease 6 , - ! 1859 United Kingdom general election, 1859 , 33.6 , {{Composition bar, 13, 53, #0087DC , {{decrease 1 , - ! 1865 United Kingdom general election, 1865 , 14.6 , {{Composition bar, 11, 53, #0087DC , {{decrease 2 , - ! 1868 United Kingdom general election, 1868 , 17.5 , {{Composition bar, 7, 60, #0087DC , {{decrease 4 , - ! 1874 United Kingdom general election, 1874 , 31.6 , {{Composition bar, 20, 60, #0087DC , {{increase 13 , - ! 1880 United Kingdom general election, 1880 , 29.9 , {{Composition bar, 8, 60, #0087DC , {{decrease 12 , - ! 1885 United Kingdom general election, 1885 , 34.3 , {{Composition bar, 10, 72, #0087DC , {{increase 2 , - ! 1886 United Kingdom general election, 1886 , 46.4 , {{Composition bar, 29, 72, #0087DC , {{increase 19 , - ! 1892 United Kingdom general election, 1892 , 44.4 , {{Composition bar, 21, 72, #0087DC , {{decrease 8 , - ! 1895 United Kingdom general election, 1895 , 47.4 , {{Composition bar, 33, 72, #0087DC , {{increase 12 , - ! 1900 United Kingdom general election, 1900 , 49.0 , {{Composition bar, 38, 72, #0087DC , {{increase 5 , - ! 1906 United Kingdom general election, 1906 , 38.2 , {{Composition bar, 12, 72, #0087DC , {{decrease 26 , - ! January 1910 United Kingdom general election, Jan 1910 , 39.6 , {{Composition bar, 11, 72, #0087DC , {{decrease 1 , - ! December 1910 United Kingdom general election, Dec 1910 , 42.6 , {{Composition bar, 12, 72, #0087DC , {{increase 1 , - ! 1918 United Kingdom general election, 1918 , 32.8 , {{Composition bar, 32, 74, #0087DC , {{increase 20 , - ! 1922 United Kingdom general election, 1922 , 25.1 , {{Composition bar, 15, 74, #0087DC , {{decrease 17 , - ! 1923 United Kingdom general election, 1923 , 31.6 , {{Composition bar, 16, 74, #0087DC , {{increase 1 , - ! 1924 United Kingdom general election, 1924 , 40.7 , {{Composition bar, 38, 74, #0087DC , {{increase 22 , - ! 1929 United Kingdom general election, 1929 , 35.9 , {{Composition bar, 22, 74, #0087DC , {{decrease 16 , - ! 1931 United Kingdom general election, 1931 , 54.4 , {{Composition bar, 50, 74, #0087DC , {{increase 28 , - ! 1935 United Kingdom general election, 1935 , 48.7 , {{Composition bar, 35, 72, #0087DC , {{decrease 15 , - ! 1945 United Kingdom general election, 1945 , 40.3 , {{Composition bar, 27, 72, #0087DC , {{decrease 8 , - ! 1950 United Kingdom general election, 1950 , 44.8 , {{Composition bar, 31, 70, #0087DC , {{increase 4 , - ! 1951 United Kingdom general election, 1951 , 48.6 , {{Composition bar, 35, 72, #0087DC , {{increase 4 , - ! 1955 United Kingdom general election, 1955 , 50.1 , {{Composition bar, 36, 72, #0087DC , {{increase 1 , - ! 1959 United Kingdom general election, 1959 , 47.3 , {{Composition bar, 31, 72, #0087DC , {{decrease 5 , - ! 1964 United Kingdom general election, 1964 , 40.6 , {{Composition bar, 24, 72, #0087DC , {{decrease 7 , - ! 1966 United Kingdom general election, 1966 , 37.7 , {{Composition bar, 20, 72, #0087DC , {{decrease 4 , - ! 1970 United Kingdom general election, 1970 , 38.0 , {{Composition bar, 23, 72, #0087DC , {{increase 3 , - ! February 1974 United Kingdom general election, Feb 1974 , 32.9 , {{Composition bar, 21, 72, #0087DC , {{decrease 2 , - ! October 1974 United Kingdom general election, Oct 1974 , 24.7 , {{Composition bar, 16, 72, #0087DC , {{decrease 5 , - !
1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the '' International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the '' Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the so ...
, 31.4 , {{Composition bar, 22, 72, #0087DC , {{increase 6 , - !
1983 The year 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to TCP/IP is officially completed (this is considered to be the beginning ...
, 28.4 , {{Composition bar, 21, 72, #0087DC , {{decrease 1 , - !
1987 File:1987 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The MS Herald of Free Enterprise capsizes after leaving the Port of Zeebrugge in Belgium, killing 193; Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashes after takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Airport, ...
, 24.0 , {{Composition bar, 10, 72, #0087DC , {{decrease 11 , - !
1992 File:1992 Events Collage V1.png, From left, clockwise: Riots break out across Los Angeles, California after the police beating of Rodney King; El Al Flight 1862 crashes into a residential apartment building in Amsterdam after two of its engin ...
, 25.6 , {{Composition bar, 11, 72, #0087DC , {{increase 1 , - ! 1997 United Kingdom general election, 1997 , 17.5 , {{Composition bar, 0, 72, #0087DC , {{decrease 11 , - !
2001 The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a multi-national coalition in an invasion of Afghanist ...
, 15.6 , {{Composition bar, 1, 72, #0087DC , {{increase 1 , - !
2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; " Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discover ...
, 15.8 , {{Composition bar, 1, 59, #0087DC , {{steady , - !
2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...
, 16.7 , {{Composition bar, 1, 59, #0087DC , {{steady , - !
2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the April ...
, 14.9 , {{Composition bar, 1, 59, #0087DC , {{steady , - !
2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a s ...
, 28.6 , {{Composition bar, 13, 59, #0087DC , {{increase 12 , - !
2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...
, 25.1 , {{Composition bar, 6, 59, #0087DC , {{decrease 7


Scottish Parliament

{, class="wikitable" style="text-align:right" , - ! rowspan="2", Election ! colspan="3", Constituency ! colspan="3", Regional ! rowspan="2", Total seats ! rowspan="2", +/– ! rowspan="2", Rank ! rowspan="2", Government , - ! Votes ! % ! Seats ! Votes ! % ! Seats , - ! 1999 Scottish Parliament election, 1999 , 364,425 , 15.6 , {{Composition bar, 0, 73, hex={{party color, Scottish Conservative Party , 359,109 , 15.3 , {{Composition bar, 18, 56, hex={{party color, Scottish Conservative Party , {{Composition bar, 18, 129, hex={{party color, Scottish Conservative Party , {{steady , {{steady 3rd , {{no2, Opposition , - ! 2003 Scottish Parliament election, 2003 , 318,279 , 16.6 , {{Composition bar, 3, 73, hex={{party color, Scottish Conservative Party , 296,929 , 15.5 , {{Composition bar, 15, 56, hex={{party color, Scottish Conservative Party , {{Composition bar, 18, 129, hex={{party color, Scottish Conservative Party , {{steady , {{steady 3rd , {{no2, Opposition , - ! 2007 Scottish Parliament election, 2007 , 334,743 , 16.6 , {{Composition bar, 4, 73, hex={{party color, Scottish Conservative Party , 284,035 , 13.9 , {{Composition bar, 13, 56, hex={{party color, Scottish Conservative Party , {{Composition bar, 17, 129, hex={{party color, Scottish Conservative Party , {{decrease 1 , {{steady 3rd , {{no2, Opposition , - ! 2011 Scottish Parliament election, 2011 , 276,652 , 13.9 , {{Composition bar, 3, 73, hex={{party color, Scottish Conservative Party , 245,967 , 12.4 , {{Composition bar, 12, 56, hex={{party color, Scottish Conservative Party , {{Composition bar, 15, 129, hex={{party color, Scottish Conservative Party , {{decrease 2 , {{steady 3rd , {{no2, Opposition , - ! 2016 Scottish Parliament election, 2016 , 501,844 , 22.0 , {{Composition bar, 7, 73, hex={{party color, Scottish Conservative Party , 524,222 , 22.9 , {{Composition bar, 24, 56, hex={{party color, Scottish Conservative Party , {{Composition bar, 31, 129, hex={{party color, Scottish Conservative Party , {{increase 16 , {{increase 2nd , {{no2, Opposition , - ! 2021 Scottish Parliament election, 2021 , 592,526 , 21.9 , {{Composition bar, 5, 73, hex={{party color, Scottish Conservative Party , 637,131 , 23.5 , {{Composition bar, 26, 56, hex={{party color, Scottish Conservative Party , {{Composition bar, 31, 129, hex={{party color, Scottish Conservative Party , {{steady , {{steady 2nd , {{no2, Opposition


Local councils

{, class="wikitable" style="text-align:right" , - ! Election ! % ! Councillors ! +/– , - ! 1995 Scottish local elections, 1995 , 11.5 , {{Composition bar, 82, 1155, {{party color, Scottish Conservative Party , , - ! 1999 Scottish local elections, 1999 , 13.5 , {{Composition bar, 108, 1222, {{party color, Scottish Conservative Party , {{increase 26 , - ! 2003 Scottish local elections, 2003 , 15.1 , {{Composition bar, 122, 1222, {{party color, Scottish Conservative Party , {{increase 14 , - ! 2007 Scottish local elections, 2007 , 15.6 , {{Composition bar, 143, 1222, {{party color, Scottish Conservative Party , {{increase 21 , - ! 2012 Scottish local elections, 2012 , 13.3 , {{Composition bar, 115, 1222, {{party color, Scottish Conservative Party , {{decrease 28 , - ! 2017 Scottish local elections, 2017 , 25.3 , {{Composition bar, 276, 1227, {{party color, Scottish Conservative Party , {{increase 161 , - ! 2022 Scottish local elections, 2022 , 19.7 , {{Composition bar, 214, 1227, {{party color, Scottish Conservative Party , {{decrease 63


District councils

{, class="wikitable" style="text-align:right" , - ! Election ! % ! Councillors ! +/– , - ! 1974 Scottish local elections, 1974 , 26.8 , {{Composition bar, 241, 1110, #0087DC , , - ! 1977 Scottish local elections, 1977 , 27.2 , {{Composition bar, 259, 1107, #0087DC , {{increase 18 , - ! 1980 Scottish local elections, 1980 , 24.1 , {{Composition bar, 232, 1182, #0087DC , {{decrease 27 , - ! 1984 Scottish local elections, 1984 , 21.4 , {{Composition bar, 189, 1182, #0087DC , {{decrease 43 , - ! 1988 Scottish local elections, 1988 , 19.4 , {{Composition bar, 162, 1182, #0087DC , {{decrease 27 , - ! 1992 Scottish local elections, 1992 , 23.2 , {{Composition bar, 204, 1158, #0087DC , {{increase 52


Regional councils

{, class="wikitable" style="text-align:right" , - ! Election ! % ! Councillors ! +/– , - ! 1974 Scottish local elections, 1974 , 28.6 , {{Composition bar, 112, 432, #0087DC , , - ! 1978 Scottish regional elections, 1978 , 30.3 , {{Composition bar, 121, 432, #0087DC , {{increase 9 , - ! 1982 Scottish regional elections, 1982 , 25.1 , {{Composition bar, 119, 441, #0087DC , {{decrease 2 , - ! 1986 Scottish regional elections, 1986 , 16.9 , {{Composition bar, 65, 524, #0087DC , {{decrease 54 , - ! 1990 Scottish regional elections, 1990 , 19.2 , {{Composition bar, 52, 524, #0087DC , {{decrease 13 , - ! 1994 Scottish regional elections, 1994 , 19.2 , {{Composition bar, 31, 453, #0087DC , {{decrease 21


European Parliament

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See also

{{portal, Conservatism, Scotland *Unionist Party (Scotland), Scottish Unionist Party (1912–1965) *Scottish Unionist Party (1986) *British Union of Fascists * * *Conservative Future Scotland *Elections in Scotland *Northern Ireland Conservatives *Welsh Conservatives


References

{{Reflist


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, https://www.scottishconservatives.com {{Scottish parliamentary parties {{Conservative MPs serving Scottish constituencies {{Conservative MSPs {{Authority control Scottish Conservative Party, 1965 establishments in Scotland Political parties established in 1965 Organisations based in Edinburgh Unionism in Scotland