James Cleverly sparks cross-Border rift after 'undermining' Scottish Tories

TORY leadership contender James Cleverly has sparked a cross-Border rift in his party after showing a “fundamental misunderstanding” of how the party “works in Scotland”.

The former home secretary – who us hoping to replace Rishi Sunak next month – fired shots at Tory top dogs when he told Conservative members in Kensington last month that the party got “totally outclassed in the digital realm by Reform” adding that “Scottish Labour is a tighter organisation than Scottish Conservatives", according to The Spectator.

Since he made the comments, a senior Scottish Conservative source has told The Times the remarks “undermine the significant achievements of the Scottish Conservative Campaign Organisation”.

The source said: “After a highly successful General Election, where we challenged the SNP, these remarks undermine the significant achievements of the Scottish Conservative Campaign Organisation (SCCO) over the past year – such as increasing our majority in key seats and securing vital council by-election wins.”

They added: “Even more concerning, given that CCHQ [Conservative Campaign Headquarters] and SCCO operate as distinct campaigning bodies, this highlights a fundamental misunderstanding of how our party functions in Scotland."

Cleverly said to members that they must “share my frustration that the London Conservative machine is not firing on all cylinders in a way that [the] Labour London machine is a really well-organised institution” before admitting that “Scottish Labour is a tighter organisation than Scottish Conservatives, Welsh Labour is a tighter organisation than Welsh Conservatives.”

(Image: PA) On the digital front, Cleverly said: “We need to make sure our digital campaigning is much, much, much, much better. We got totally outclassed in the digital realm by Reform, a party that didn’t exist two and a half years ago”

After a poor election for the Conservatives, the leadership contest has not been short of suggestions from candidates for overhauling the party establishment.

Leading contender Robert Jenrick has said he wants to scrap the CCHQ-approved candidates’ list so that any member can stand.

Alongside Jenrick and Cleverley, former business secretary Kemi Badenoch and ex-security minister Tom Tugendhat are running for the leadership position.