Voting in the Scottish Conservative leadership contest has closed, with either Jackson Carlaw or Michelle Ballantyne set to be elected.

The winner of the race to succeed Ruth Davidson, who quit in August last year, will be announced on Friday morning in Edinburgh.

Mr Carlaw has been interim leader since Ms Davidson’s resignation and is seen as the favourite to replace her in a permanent capacity.

But his opponent Ms Ballantyne had claimed during the leadership contest that the party lacked “vision and ambition” in December’s general election campaign, which saw the loss of seven Conservative seats in Scotland.

Ms Ballantyne, a Boris Johnson supporter, criticised the election strategy and the Tories’ focus on opposing another Scottish independence referendum, suggesting it helped SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon.

A former nurse and councillor in the Borders, Ms Ballantyne was elected as a Conservative South Scotland MSP in 2017.

Among her policy proposals is a pledge that income taxes in Scotland should never be higher than the rest of the UK and a call for 2,000 additional police officers.

Mr Carlaw has emphasised his experience standing in for Ms Davidson during her maternity leave, and said he would hold the Scottish Government to account over its “record of shameful failure and neglect” towards public services.

First elected to Holyrood in 2007, the former car salesman said at his leadership launch that he would conduct an “urgent review” of the Scottish Conservatives’ policies and pledged to cut income tax for those earning between £26,000 and £45,000 if he becomes first minister in 2021.