With Russell Findlay elected the new Scottish Conservative leader, here are the main headlines from his victory.

• Findlay secured a convincing win with 2,565 votes.
• The new leader promised to deliver "common sense", saying the party would change under his leadership and win back public trust
• He added that the Tories will be a "voice for decent, mainstream Scotland."
• Findlay also said that "unity is fundamental" for the party going forward and that he is "acutely aware" of the Reform Party's recent success.
• The voting figures revealed the party only have 7,000 members - less than Alba and the Scottish Greens.
• Opposition parties said the new appointment would be unable to prevent a "downward slide" continuing for the Scottish Tories.

Findlay's two leadership rivals have congratulated him on his victory on social media.

Murdo Fraser, who also failed in the 2011 leadership vote when he lost out to Ruth Davidson, said he was looking forward to working with Findlay going forward.

Posting on X, Fraser wrote: "Thanks to all our members who supported me, but now is the time to unite as a team and move forward together."

Meanwhile, Meghan Gallacher, who was only elected to Holyrood for the first time in 2021, backed his call for party unity.

Gallacher added: "The membership has spoken resoundingly and we must all unite as a team as we approach the next Holyrood election.

"Job well done!"

Image source, PA Media

One of Russell Findlay's closing lines was that he will aim to deliver "common sense for change".

This might sound familiar for anyone who has followed the party - both in Scotland and the wider UK - over the years.

As far back as 1999, then leader William Hague was calling for a "common sense revolution" in his speech to the party faithful. That claim included five "common sense guarantees", from "strengthening the family" to having more police on the streets.

Several years later it was David Cameron who said the party was standing for "common sense for the common good", while Boris Johnson cited "common sense" as one of the ways to combat the Covid-19 pandemic.

In 2020 a backbench pressure group of Conservative MPs called themselves "the Common Sense Group". They later accused the National Trust of being overly influenced by "elitist liberals".

By 2023, Esther McVey declared herself the government's "minister for common sense" after being appointed minister without portfolio by Rishi Sunak - a role centred on fighting "woke" ideas.

The early reaction to Findlay’s victory may be positive from the Tory side, but he is unlikely to be given an easy ride by opposition parties.

Scottish Labour’s deputy leader, Jackie Baillie, said a new leader would do nothing to prevent the party’s “downward slide”.

She said: “The Tories still owe Scots an apology for gambling with families' savings, crashing the economy and sending bills soaring while putting party before country."

SNP MSP Kevin Stewart accused the Conservatives of being “totally divided and distracted by infighting”, adding that Findlay had "no desire to stand up for Scotland's interests".

He said: “They have finally managed to swap out one of two lame duck leaders - but defeated Rishi Sunak is still pulling the strings until November, as what feels like the longest leadership contest in history rumbles on.

Meanwhile, Scottish Lib Dem leader Alex Cole-Hamilton described the job as a “hospital pass” and said the party was “in decline”.

He added Findlay may struggle to “escape his record of cheering on Liz Truss” after backing the former PM before her short term at Downing Street.

Philip Sim
BBC Scotland political correspondent

Image source, PA Media

Russell Findlay says he’s “acutely aware” of the threat to his party from Reform UK – but how big of a threat are they?

In July’s general election, the Conservatives lost almost half of their share of the vote – down 12.4 percentage points, to 12.7%.

Reform meanwhile came from nowhere to hit 7% of the vote.

Their influence could well have cost the Tories in key contests – in particular Douglas Ross’s defeat in Aberdeenshire North and Moray East – but they had a broader impact across the country.

They were ahead of the Tories in a total of 25 seats, including all of the Glasgow constituencies.

In truth Findlay’s party faces a battle on multiple fronts, though.

In an era potentially less dominated by constitutional politics, they risk losing unionist supporters to Labour and the Lib Dems too.

Findlay needs to redefine exactly what the Scottish Tories are for if he is to shore up their support going into the Holyrood election in 2026.

Image source, Getty Images

The new leader of the Scottish Conservatives was the early favourite in this contest, announcing his candidacy before the format of the vote was even announced.

He became an MSP for West of Scotland since 2021 and was previously the party's justice spokesperson at Holyrood.

But that only came after a 30-year career in the Scottish media, spanning spells at The Sun, Sunday Mail and STV.

The former investigative journalist was also the victim of an acid attack on his front doorstep in 2015 when an assailant disguised as a postman.

Read more here.

David Wallace Lockhart
Political correspondent

I’ve spoken to the two unsuccessful candidates - Murdo Fraser and Meghan Gallacher.

Both are stressing the need to bring the party back together, and have congratulated Russell Findlay on his victory.

They’re both willing to consider any spokesperson roles that he may offer them.

Even though they weren’t victorious, I get the feeling that they’re both happy that a drawn out contest has finally drawn to a close.

Image source, PA Media

Reaction from Scottish Conservative members is starting to filter through and it is all broadly positive for Findlay so far.

Angus councillor Iain Gall hailed him as the “man to lead the charge” in a post on social media, external.

Meanwhile, North East MSP Tess White repeated his call for party unity and change for the Conservatives going forward.

David Wallace Lockhart
Political correspondent

As part of this leadership saga it’s emerged that the Scottish Conservatives only have around 7,000 members.

For context, that’s fewer than the Scottish Greens (who have far fewer MSPs).

Come election time, these are the door-knockers, pavement-pounders and leaflet-deliverers that serve as the lifeblood of any political movement.

The new leader will want to build on this base. But how do you convince more people to sign up and pay their dues each month? That’s the real challenge.

Read more here.

The new leader has been asked about Scottish independence.

He says the Conservatives should "take great pride" from stopping the break-up of the United Kingdom in the 2014 vote, but that the party must focus on issues such as education and the economy to win over voters, rather than concentrate on another referendum.

Kirsten Campbell
BBC Scotland political correspondent

The new leader has a busy few days ahead.

Choosing a front bench team of spokespeople from within a party riven by schisms could be a challenge.

Then, there’s the small matter of meeting King Charles ahead of making a speech in the Scottish Parliament at an event to mark its 25th anniversary, a party political broadcast to record to coincide with the Conservative conference and a trip to Birmingham to speak to the party faithful.

And of course, all eyes will be on his first performance at first minister’s question time on Thursday.

The new Scottish Tory leader is being quizzed on whether he will add either of the defeated candidates from today to his "inner circle" and for his thoughts on the success of the Reform party.

He says he wants "the very best" people but that it would be "premature" to begin discussing who could fill which roles.

Findlay adds that the party are "acutely aware" of Reform - a party which made a dent in the Tories' vote share at the general election.

Philip Sim
BBC Scotland political correspondent

Russell Findlay won this contest comfortably, but the new leader won’t be particularly happy with the numbers underlying his win.

There were just 6,941 eligible voters – i.e. Scottish Tory members – and only 60% of them bothered to take part.

It doesn’t speak of a large, engaged membership ready to hit the doorsteps and catapult the party back into contention following a damaging election result.

In fact that would be fewer members than the Alba Party reported in its last accounts, at 7,507.

The first question to the new leader is focused on the infighting that marked the leadership contest. Russell Findlay says that "unity is fundamental" and that the party "needs to get our house in order".

He then returns to his desire to placing "common sense policies" at the centre of the party.

Findlay also jokes about being considered the "establishment" candidate, saying he looks forward to meeting said establishment.

David Wallace Lockhart
Political correspondent

That’s a convincing win for Russell Findlay. The membership ranked candidates, and it didn’t even have to go to second preference votes.

It’s perhaps unsurprising. He had a lot of MSPs and MPs in the party backing him, and that seems to have been replicated amongst the membership.

But this contest really highlights a problem with the Scottish Conservative membership - there’s very few of them. Below 7,000.

And only 60% bothered to vote, which doesn’t suggest a huge level of engagement.

This is just one of the key problems with this party that Russell Findlay will now have to address.

Findlay says voters want “common sense for a change”.

He says it will be his aim to deliver it.

And with that, he thanks members once again and brings his address to a close.

Findlay calls for the party to “come together as one united team”.

He says he is “not a career politician” and understands the frustrations that no one in politics represents the views of some voters.

Findlay says the party will “work hard to earn voters’ trust by doing things differently”.

He says: “We will be a voice for decent, mainstream Scotland and the values of hard work, self-reliance and value for taxpayers.”

Image source, PA Media

Russell Findlay begins his acceptance speech by thanking members who voted for him, before cracking a “sausage” joke from Sir Keir Starmer’s mishap at the Labour conference earlier this week.

He also thanks Fraser and Gallacher, saying he “greatly admires and respects” the other two candidates.

Findlay says it is time for the hard work to start to win back public trust.

He appeals to people who are “scunnered by the divisiveness and fringe obsessions of the Scottish Parliament,” and says the Scottish Conservatives will change under his leadership.

• Total number of electors 6,941
• Turnout 60%
• Valid votes cast 4,155
• Russell Findlay 2,565 votes
• Murdo Fraser 1,187
• Meghan Gallacher 403

Russell Findlay has been elected as the new leader of the Scottish Conservatives.