SCOTTISH Tory leadership contender Murdo Fraser has made a pitch to SNP voters, claiming they can vote Conservative because independence is “no longer a prospect”.
Fraser, the longest serving Tory MSP, claimed that some people who “hold Conservative values” will have voted for the SNP in the past “because they are sympathetic to independence”.
His comments come as he launches his bid to lead the Scottish Conservatives at an event in Perth.
Fraser is one of five contenders left in the race to take over from Douglas Ross. Each of them will need to secure 100 nominations by midday on Thursday in order to be on the ballot, and reports say that Fraser, Liam Kerr, and favourite Russell Findlay have all met the threshold.
Meghan Gallacher, who resigned as Scottish Tory depute leader last week, and Jamie Greene are also bidding to lead the group.
Fraser claims to have the backing of six MSPs, including former Olympic athlete Brian Whittle, who announced on Tuesday he was no longer running. He also has the support of Stephen Kerr, although he branded Fraser’s campaign “awful” in WhatsApp messages he accidentally made public.
Fraser will say on Thursday at his campaign launch that the Tories have to adapt to a changing political agenda in Scotland.
While the party has focused campaign efforts on their opposition to Scottish independence, the Mid Scotland and Fife MSP will say: “Scotland is moving on from the constitutional obsession that has dogged us for the last decade, and so must we as a party.”
Adding that there are “many more people who hold Conservative values in Scotland than currently vote Scottish Conservative”, he will claim some of these people will have voted SNP “perhaps for the last two decades”.
Fraser will say: “With independence no longer a prospect, these individuals have been freed up to vote for a party which might not share their view on the constitution, but is actually offering real solutions to the problems Scotland faces today.”
By the next Holyrood election in 2026, the SNP will have been in power for 19 years, and Fraser will say Scotland has endured “two decades when we have seen our public services crumble”.
He will go on to claim there has been a “lack of progress on vital transport projects, such as ferry procurement and the dualling of roads”, as well as “two decades when our education system, once the envy of the world, has slipped down international rankings”.
Fraser will say: “The case for change in 2026 is undeniable. But we can’t just swap one left-of-centre party in the SNP with another in Labour, simply because it has a different view on the constitution.
“Scotland needs real change, and that is what the Scottish Conservatives under my leadership will provide.”
The new Scottish Tory leader is due to be announced on Friday September 27.
