Candidates attack plans to ban media from Scottish Tory leadership hustings

The candidates, clockwise from top left: Meghan Gallacher, Liam Kerr, Murdo Fraser, Brian Whittle, Jamie Greene, Russell Findlay
The Tory leadership candidates (clockwise from top left): Meghan Gallacher, Liam Kerr, Murdo Fraser, Brian Whittle, Jamie Greene, Russell Findlay - PA & Alamy

The Scottish Tories have backed down on allowing media access to their leadership hustings after all the potential candidates condemned a mooted ban.

The six potential contenders took to social media to criticise any plan for a media blackout of the events and make clear they were happy for the debates to be reported.

Party insiders said the media had not attended hustings in previous leadership contests, but indicated that arrangements would now be made to allow access to one or two events, probably in Edinburgh or Glasgow.

The ban was mooted despite the Scottish Tories being at the forefront of criticism of the SNP last year when they initially banned the media from the hustings between Humza Yousaf and Kate Forbes.

Craig Hoy, the Scottish Tory chairman, said at the time that the SNP was “desperate for their internal civil war to be conducted in private, rather than airing their dirty linen in public”. The nationalists later allowed the media to attend.

The Scottish Tories are planning to stage eight hustings between those candidates who achieve the requisite 100 nominations from party members, including one being held online.

Russell Findlay, the shadow justice secretary and the bookmakers’ favourite in the contest, tweeted: “As a former journalist, I’m pro transparency. It’s up to our members but I’d support media access to hustings.”

Murdo Fraser, another of the frontrunners, tweeted: “This is a disappointing decision. As a candidate I would be happy to see the media invited to at least one of our hustings.

“Our messages need to get out to the wider public, not just our own @‌ScotTories members.” Liam Kerr, who is also standing, described Mr Fraser’s view as “correct”.

Six candidates expected to run to replace Douglas Ross (pictured) as Scottish Tory leader
Six candidates expected to run to replace Douglas Ross (pictured) as Scottish Tory leader - Andrew Milligan/PA Wire

Meghan Gallacher, the party’s deputy leader and another candidate in the contest, said: “Media should be welcome at our upcoming leadership hustings events.

“Candidates have already agreed to other hustings organised by broadcasters and journalists. I hope this decision is overturned.”

Jamie Greene, another candidate, said: “I’m perfectly fine with the media attending hustings for the record. There is always a time and place to speak to members in private, as all parties wish to do, but the next leader has to speak to the country more widely.”

His message was reposted by Brian Whittle, meaning all the potential candidates criticised the decision.

After the hustings have been held, ballot papers will be posted to members on Sept 4 and they will be asked to rank the candidates in order of preference.

The bottom-ranked candidate will be eliminated in each round, with their first-preference votes redistributed until one candidate receives over 50 per cent of the votes cast. The winner will be announced on Sept 27.

A Scottish Conservative spokesman said: “The hustings are arranged to enable party members to question the candidates, so that they can make an informed choice on who to vote for as leader.

“The party will announce the format for hustings, and arrangements for media access to them, after consulting with all of the candidates.”

‘Unsustainable’ benefits

The row over media access blew up as Mr Findlay warned that Scotland’s “unsustainable” benefits bill must be cut, warning the SNP’s “virtue-signalling” income tax hikes would not cover the spiralling cost.

Writing in The Telegraph, he said Labour and the SNP viewed the surging welfare bill as a “benchmark of a nation’s success” when it actually “demonstrates a total failure” of their “socialist consensus”.

Mr Findlay argued that millions of pounds should instead be diverted into helping Scotland’s struggling NHS to cut record waiting lists, and this would have the knock-on effect of reducing benefits spending.

“This will create a positive cycle where more people can get back into work, fewer people are in poverty, and everyone benefits from faster NHS treatment,” he concluded.

A report by Holyrood’s finance committee last year warned the annual cost of devolved social security was to surge from £5.2 billion in 2023-24 to almost £7.3 billion in 2027-28, following the SNP’s decision to introduce a series of new benefits.

The Scottish Government was approached for comment.