Cllr Thomas Kerr represents Shettleston Ward on Glasgow City Council.
Last week’s General Election was brutal for the Conservative Party. There is no sugarcoating it.
However, in Scotland my party did buck the UK-wide trend and managed a respectable result in holding onto five out of our six seats.
But like our colleagues south of the border, we are mindful of the huge challenges ahead and need to rebuild. While we were successful in areas where we have been before such as the South of Scotland and the North East, you just have to look at the central belt – and my home city of Glasgow – to see where challenges lie. We finished behind Reform and the Greens in those seats. So, where next?
Douglas Ross has already announced his resignation, meaning a leadership contest is imminent. But, this must be a contest of ideas, not a coronation of convenience.
Einstein once said the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. The same could be said for our party’s strategy of winning votes.
With the SNP in retreat and independence on the back burner, it’s time we hang up our “No2IndyRef2” leaflets and take the fight to a resurgent Labour Party whose message of change is as hollow as their leaders’ personality.
The Scottish Conservatives have a unique opportunity in the years ahead to become a distinctly Scottish party fully focused on the people’s priorities. The term “Tartan Tory” shouldn’t be a stick to hit our opponents, but the brand we Conservatives steal and wear proudly.
In 2017, I won Shettleston in the heart of working-class Glasgow with our message against independence front and centre, but more importantly, I bucked the trend and held my seat in 2022 because I was able to articulate to my community what conservatism is about and why it delivers for areas like Shettleston.
The Holyrood consensus is that the Government knows best, and individuals should be thankful for the state’s support.
I fundamentally, and unashamedly, disagree.
The people of Scotland are currently the highest-taxed part of our United Kingdom, and what do we get for it?
A failing education system, our NHS on the brink of collapse, our streets are unsafe to walk, the economy remains stagnant and, an ever-growing public sector strangling competition and businesses.
It’s time we as Conservatives offer a real alternative vision for our country, because if you think Anas Sarwar is the answer to the major challenges above, then you’re asking the wrong question.
Labour has shown themselves to be SNP-lite on every issue facing Scotland and backed some of their worst policies including the gender reform act and the hate crime act so let’s not be duped by a party that took our communities for granted and helped to bring about the political landscape for the SNP to thrive.
This leadership contest offers us a chance to reset and rebuild with a young dynamic leader focused on the future, not the past. A new leader who understands the central belt and offers a policy platform focused on expanding our base in Scotland.
As a young father of a one-year-old son, I am acutely aware of the challenges childcare and housing are having for my generation. Yet, our party hasn’t had a coherent message on either of these issues across the UK for a very long time. Instead, we promote NIMBYism over home ownership. It cannot continue.
Those who voted Reform across the central belt aren’t our competitors, we need to win them back. We do this by offering a vision for Scotland.
I joined the Scottish Conservatives aged 14 from a working-class background because I believed in our party’s core belief – opportunity for all and aspiration for our people. It’s time we re-energise those values and make them fit for a new generation.
Keir Starmer’s Government is beatable, as are John Swinney’s Nationalists. If we Conservatives rise to the moment we can start to be the voice of forgotten Scotland, but if we get this wrong, our opponents will be laughing back into power.
Now is our time – let’s not squander it.
