Conservatism inherently favours the tried and tested over radical change.

Any would-be leader of the Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party (SCUP) who stands on a platform of abolishing it is therefore either courageous or foolhardy.

Murdo Fraser’s radical plan for the SCUP to slough off its old skin and reinvent itself as a separate Scottish party of the centre right has made the campaign to choose a successor to Annabel Goldie the talk of the steamie far beyond the ranks of paid-up Tories. Heated discussion over future direction is exactly what the moribund Scottish party and the wider Scottish polity require to regain credibility with voters.

Yesterday’s hustings at the Tory conference allowed grassroots activists to enagage directly with the four contenders for the Scottish leadership. Predictable as their jousting was, it was standing room only as delegates flocked to hear them set out their stalls.

This is heartening evidence that despite returning only one MP to Westminster and having their Holyrood cadre reduced to 15, there is life in the Scottish Conservatives yet. That the front runners are now the most youthful, Ruth Davidson, and the most radical, Murdo Fraser, should also be cause for hope in a party whose public image, despite Miss Goldie’s feistiness, has been lacking in energy.

By comparison, Labour’s Scottish leadership contest has failed to emerge into public view from the introspection that was no doubt necessary after the drubbing the party received at the Holyrood election. Their UK leader Ed Miliband rubbed salt into the open wound by being able to name only two of the three candidates, forgetting the front runner, Ken Macintosh. A general perception that they were lightweights was given added credence, along with a sense that Scotland had become irrelevant to the party hierarchy.

Both Annabel Goldie and Iain Gray are displaying admirable tenacity in soldiering on but the lack of leadership is not only hobbling their parties but damaging political debate in Scotland.

The SNP’s majority at Holyrood and the referendum on independence make it more important than at any time since devolution that there are well-led opposition parties with coherent strategies and the standing to challenge SNP policy.

It is a truism that there is a far greater consensus on policy among the electorate in Scotland than in England. Far from reducing the need for debate, however, this requires a more nuanced weighing up of alternatives.

Since May, both Labour and the Tories have had to accept that although they represent values that are widely shared, they have failed to translate this into increased support at the ballot box. The key to changing that is leadership. Each must find a leader who is able to hold his or her own against the increasingly confident Alex Salmond.

A figurehead without policies commanding the backing of the public would be doomed. There is a new political landscape in Scotland but only opposition parties that recognise the need for a new approach will succeed. The Tories are making the running on that score.