The Scottish Conservative & Unionist Party leadership contest is well under way and many people have asked who I will be supporting.
After much careful consideration, I've decided to back Russell Findlay to lead our party forward.
I firmly believe that Russell has the broad appeal to deliver election success and win over people up and down Scotland.
In this contest, Russell has not only won my support but the backing of all five Scottish Conservative MPs.
He's also already gained the support of my colleague, Scottish Borders MSP Rachael Hamilton, and many local Borders councillors too.
And he's also won the backing of former Scottish Conservative party leader, Ruth Davidson.
I'm not surprised that Ruth is supporting Russell because they have similar qualities.
I was Ruth's campaign manager when she won the 2011 Scottish Conservative leadership contest and I recognise a lot of the same strengths in Russell as she had. He’s positive, determined and he connects with people.
When he recently visited the Borders, as he has done on several occasions during this contest, I heard a lot of good feedback from local people who met him and thought he was genuine, decent and likeable.
Russell is not a career politician, that’s his great strength. He became an MSP in 2021 after 30 years as an investigative journalist, during which time he took on organised crime gangs and held the powerful to account.
His former colleagues in journalism hold him in very high regard, as do many people in the Scottish Parliament who have been impressed by his grasp on real-world issues that often get overlooked at Holyrood.
Since becoming an MSP, he’s already achieved a lot by pushing the SNP to act and holding them to account on several justice issues where they were failing, particularly drugs in prison.
I believe Russell is by far the best candidate to take on the SNP at Holyrood and hold Labour to account too. He's tough, strong and determined enough to stand up to the left-wing consensus in the Scottish Parliament.
But he also has the positive vision, the fresh thinking and the new approach that our party needs to move forward. He will unite our party, keep it together, and work hard to unite conservative-minded voters across Scotland.
Russell Findlay will have my vote in this leadership contest and I hope he will have your support too.
