A MILLIONAIRE MSP who owns a Highland estate and earns £50,000 from two outside jobs has been put in charge of election policy for the Scottish Tories.
Harrow-educated Donald Cameron was named as the party’s new “chief policy coordinator” in a reshuffle prompted by three Tory MSPs being elected to Westminster on June 8.
Announcing her choice, Scottish Tory leader Ruth Davidson said Mr Cameron would develop policy with her shadow cabinet team “as we look towards the elections in 2021”.
She said that after proving her party could be a strong opposition to the SNP, it was time to “step it up” and show voters the Tories were a credible alternative Scottish government.
She said: “The SNP’s bubble has burst and people across Scotland are looking for change.
"This is about showing what we'd do differently and how we can move Scotland forward.
"In areas such as education, public services and the economy we are bursting with ideas and we will work with stakeholders across Scotland to bring forward a manifesto in 2021 which can command the support of the country.
"Nicola Sturgeon is being put on notice. It's time Scotland had a government committed to the day job and that's exactly the offer we will take to the country."
Elected a Highlands & Islands MSP last year, Mr Cameron, an advocate and the son of the chief of Clan Cameron, is one of the richest people at Holyrood.
In his register of interests he declares he owns Achnacarry Estate near Fort William, which supports forestry, tourism, deer-stalking, fishing and renewable energy businesses.
The estate is valued at around £6.5m, and yields a gross annual of around £270,000.
However Mr Cameron said that in 2015/16 the net income after costs and losses was zero.
Mr Cameron, 40, also declares a £700,000 shareholding in a renewable energy company.
In addition, he is the non-executive director of two Edinburgh-based financial funds, Murray Income Trust PLC and Edinburgh Worldwide Investment Trust PLC, which each pay him up to £25,000 for attending five half-day board meetings per year.
He said he was “delighted” to be co-ordinating policy for the 2021 election.
“We will produce a manifesto that draws on a wide range of expertise in all policy areas, proposing our vision for Scotland, and confirming us as a government-in-waiting.”
Former Tory MSPs John Lamont, Douglas Ross and Ross Thomson were elected as MPs in the general election and resigned their seats at Holyrood.
Maurice Golden replaces Mr Lamont as Tory chief whip, Liam Kerr replaces Mr Ross as justice spokesman, and Miles Briggs replaces Mr Cameron as health spokesman.
Rachael Hamilton is promoted to culture and tourism spokesperson.
Scottish Green MSP Andy Wightman said: “I’m sure Mr Cameron will play a key role in modernising the laws of inheritance of Scotland’s land as well as driving forward ambitious land taxation plans for the next Holyrood election in his capacity as policy coordinator.
“Greens look forward to Mr Cameron working with us to return the land to the people.”
An SNP spokesman added: “If this is the man expected to write their manifesto then it’s clearer than ever that the Tories are only interested in standing up for the wealthiest at the expense of everyone else.”
Labour MSP Neil Findlay said: "The new Tory policy chief looks like a lobbyist's dream. Ruth Davidson is desperately trying to de-toxify the Tories and develop her paper-thin policy agenda, but the party’s manifesto proved just how bereft of ideas the Tories are.
“I am bringing forward proposals to restrict second jobs for MSPs - I look forward to Mr Cameron's submission to my consultation."
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