With the SNP emerging triumphant from the most recent electoral contests to become the dominant force in Scottish politics the British Conservative Party is joining its Labour Party peers in an increasingly desperate search for a panacea to cure its many ills. The latest, a proposed split from the London-based party HQ, seems likely to cause more problems than it will solve. According to the (admittedly excitable) Daily Express:
“THE Scottish Conservatives are heading towards an irreparable split with one of the party’s most senior figures today set to promise to fight against leadership contender Murdo Fraser’s breakaway Unionists.
David Mundell, the country’s only Tory MP, is set to publicly declare that he will not “betray” Conservative voters or his colleagues at Westminster by joining any new and separate party.
Mr Fraser, who is currently deputy leader at Holyrood, wants to dissolve the Tories and create a new Scottish Unionist party, allied to David Cameron’s MPs at Westminster but without the “toxic” legacy that has alienated it in the eyes of millions of Scots.
However, Mr Mundell’s remarks now highlight the possibility that the Tories could fracture and Scotland could end up with two right-of-centre Unionist parties.”
Which one might suggest is highly unlikely. Two competing right-wing Unionist parties in Scotland would simply cancel each other out, worsening the Unionist case in any future independence referendum, and not even the most obdurate Tory grandee north of the border wants to see that. So expect some fast-foot shuffling over the coming months and the heralding of a new venture (for which one can read compromise) for the Conservative Party faithful in Scotland.
Related articles
- The Scottish Unionist Party? (ansionnachfionn.com)
- Leading Scottish Tory plans to disband party (independent.co.uk)
- The Scottish Tories – A Historical Perspective (politicsontoast.com)
- Scottish Conservative party faces civil war over plans to dissolve (guardian.co.uk)
- Tory MP confident of breakaway bid (mirror.co.uk)
- Murdo Fraser: Scottish Conservatives have no future (telegraph.co.uk)
- I agree: the Conservatives in Scotland should make way for a new Scottish Unionist Party (blogs.telegraph.co.uk)
- Scottish Tory aims to disband party (independent.co.uk)
AN SIONNACH FIONN 
I love it the way that the unionists are doing all the work on the independence debate – and every time a pronouncement is made by any of them, it strengthens the case for independence, as the arguments for the union are so flimsy. Salmond has only to sit back and watch the unionist cadre collapse – and make his move when he is good and ready.
LikeLike
I quiet agree, Siôn. Salmond is the master of the long game.
LikeLike