The Tories will be reduced to a handful of MSPs without “radical change”, a leadership candidate has claimed.
Mid Scotland and Fife MSP Murdo Fraser was speaking after publishing polling evidence he believes supports his call for the Scottish Conservatives to break away from the UK party under a new name.
The audacious plan has split the party”s grassroots support in Scotland and looks set to dominate the contest to replace Annabel Goldie.
On Sunday, Mr Fraser”s campaign team released private Conservative polling carried out earlier this year which suggested only 6% of Scots believe the party put Scotland first. Mr Fraser said this was further proof that a new party controlled from Scotland and independent of Westminster interference was required to ensure the future of centre-right politics north of the border.
He also published an analysis of Tory election results in Scotland which have shown a downward trend since devolution. Mr Fraser believes the Conservative brand has become so contaminated by “historical baggage” in Scotland that only a complete break from the past can make it electable again.
A total of 113,142 votes were lost in the first three terms of the Scottish Parliament, an average of 37,714 each time. Mr Fraser said the party must take action to stop the decline.
“No problem was ever solved by brushing it under the carpet,” he said. “We have watched our vote decline at every election since the inception of the Scottish Parliament, and this polling tells us exactly why.
“There is a belief amongst some that if we bide our time for another 10 years, things will get better. But we said that 10 years ago. It hasn”t got better and it never will without radical change.
“The anti-change approach will ultimately drag us down to a single-figure vote share, a single-figure number of seats in the Scottish Parliament, no seats at Westminster and effectively the end of the centre-right in Scotland.
“A new captain of the ship is not enough we need a new ship.”
Meanwhile, storage firm boss Alister Jack, who is worth £20 million, has offered to bankroll the new party.
West of Scotland MSP Jackson Carlaw and Glasgow MSP Ruth Davidson will also stand in the leadership contest.
There are around 8500 Conservative Party members in Scotland, all of whom will have a vote in the poll to find the next leader, who will be elected in November.