Douglas Ross has opened up on the plotting and scheming in the Scottish Tory ranks as the bitter leadership race turns personal.
The outgoing leader, who remains MSP for the Highlands and Islands, spoke up during an event at the Edinburgh festival.
He responded to fury over attempts to stand in place of Moray council leader Kathleen Robertson at the general election in July.
He also admitted he wouldn’t have stood in place of David Duguid in Aberdeenshire had he known he would lose.
Mr Ross is quitting formally as Scottish Tory leader next month, with five candidates seeking support to take over as of Tuesday night.
During an hour of questions on Tuesday afternoon, Mr Ross paused to reflect on suggestions only “calculating b******s” can be Scottish Tory leaders.
Then he took the opportunity to hit back at the plotters in his own ranks.
“Some of the ones who won’t be leader of the Scottish Tories ARE calculating b******s,” he said.
Douglas Ross on backstabbing in the party
The comment, delivered as a quip, highlights the deep resentment in the party at a tough time in Holyrood and Westminster.
But Mr Ross also admitted he’s been battling against the tide for years with some in his group briefing heavily against him.
“We are a small group and it is pretty obvious to me when you look at the language, where it’s reported, who said what,” he said.
“You put that to people and they claim complete innocence and you have their ultimate loyalty.”
He said he’d like to ask journalists in the audience for their sources to confirm the names in his mind – a comment he later dismissed as a joke.
Much of the recent anger centres on claims Mr Ross was privately seeking a way out of Holyrood as far back as 2023 in Moray West, Nairn and Strathspey.
Asked if he had been “underhand” in plotting to take over, he said: “If that was the case, I would have become the candidate.”
Regrets
Publicly Mr Ross was telling people he would devote his attention to the Scottish Parliament as leader.
In the end, Mr Ross went on to lose to the SNP in Aberdeenshire North and Moray East.
Does he have any regrets?
“If I’d known I wasn’t going to win that seat, I wouldn’t have gone forward for that seat,” he told host Graham Spiers.
Mr Ross also denied reports he favoured Russell Findlay to take over as leader, stressing he has made no comment on any of the candidates.
He also ran through what he sees as the successes of his term as leader.
‘Paranoid’
Gender law reform opposition, championing the Moray and Highland regions, and standing up to Nicola Sturgeon were among his list.
Mr Ross also claimed credit for Humza Yousaf being forced to resign before a vote of confidence could be held earlier this year.
On mistakes, he admitted to becoming a bit paranoid.
“I think I did the leadership too early,” he added.
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