Douglas Ross became an official leadership candidate today for the Scottish Conservatives after receiving more than 100 nominations.
The Moray MP passed the threshold a mere 90 minutes after announcing his campaign, making him a popular candidate for the role.
After speaking on a Zoom press conference, Mr Ross stated his intentions early on for what we can expect from him if he is successful in his leadership bid.
READ MORE: Douglas Ross officially becomes Scottish Tory leadership candidate
Utilising devolution
Mr Ross wants to give more power to Scotland’s rural regions and towns - and plans to take action.
Speaking at his press conference, the Scottish Tory leadership candidate said: “Over 13 years, too much power has been drawn into the SNP’s hands in Edinburgh and our regions, cities and towns have lost control as a result.
“Under my leadership, a top priority of the Scottish Conservatives will be to set out new ways to take powers out of the hands of ministers at Holyrood and hand them back to our communities, our rural areas, our towns and villages, who feel they have little or no control over their way of life.”
Ross added: “In short, I plan to power up Scotland.
“Scotland is not a monochrome, monoculture nation as some would have it.
“From the vibrancy of our cities, to the distinct culture of the Highlands and Islands, to the traditions of the south of Scotland, we have so much to offer.
“Our mission will be to give expression to the variety and richness our extraordinary country contains.”
I'm delighted to have reached the key milestone of 100 nominations to become an official candidate for leader of the Scottish Conservatives. I'll continue talking to members and colleagues across Scotland to assure them I'm the right person to take the fight to the SNP - and win.
— Douglas Ross MP (@Douglas4Moray) August 1, 2020
Ruth Davidson is backing him to succeed.
Ruth Davidson has already publicly supported the Moray MP’s bid to become the next leader of the Scottish Conservatives.
Ms Davidson said: “This job needs someone who knows how to beat the SNP - and Douglas has a heck of a record. Winning his seat against them not once, but twice."
"With Douglas, the Scottish Conservatives will offer strong, capable and principled opposition to the SNP - and give a voice to everyone who wants to tell the Nationalists once and for all: we said no, and we meant it."
"Let's get on and focus on the issues that matter to the Scottish people".
But he is also banking on Ruth Davidson to deliver
Mr Ross has publicly stated that he is looking for Ms Davidson to take on the FMQ’s every Thursday.
He said: "Our best striker has agreed to get back on the pitch: Ruth Davidson."
The Moray MP is putting his faith on Ruth Davidson’s experience in facing off against Nicola Sturgeon as he aims to take the fight to the SNP.
READ MORE: Ruth Davidson: Douglas Ross has 'vision, drive and energy' to lead Scottish Conservatives
Delighted to have the support of @RuthDavidsonMSP – and that she’s agreed to join me on the front line if I’m the next leader of the Scottish Conservatives. pic.twitter.com/NpEIDzxTfZ
— Douglas Ross MP (@Douglas4Moray) August 1, 2020
Moving on from IndyRef
Mr Ross wants to unite the nation and move on from the discussion of Scottish independence and look towards Scotland’s future.
He says: “So while our opposition to a second independence referendum will remain as firm as ever, our focus is going to move on from the 6 year old contest of No v Yes.
"The real dividing line now is this: it’s between those in the SNP who would take us back to that old sterile debate, and the majority of non-nationalist Scots who want to move forward, with the whole country focused on the key challenges we face.”
Focusing on our education system
The Scottish Tory leadership candidate wants to focus on Scotland’s education system.
Mr Ross says he aims to: “Stop the slow decline of our education system. To dump the failed Curriculum for Excellence experiment, and instead to restore Scotland’s once great reputation as the best place to educate your child, anywhere in the world.”
He adds: “To ensure workers who lose their job have a guarantee that they’ll get reskilled, not dumped on the dole for the rest of their careers.”
READ MORE: Jackson Carlaw quits as Scottish Conservative leader
He plans on uniting the country
Mr Ross spoke of the importance of bringing Scotland together after a 'difficult and testing time for us all.' during the coronavirus pandemic.
He says that Scotland has pulled together and shown 'resilience and spirit' which has shown that we remain a united country.
Ross added: “Ruth and I will be calling on all voters across the country who want a Scotland that finally moves on from the deadlock of division – when division between Scots has dominated – and who want the focus to be on what we can all achieve together, right here, right now.
"Our message will be: unite behind us, and together, let’s get Scotland going forward.”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel