The 2011 Scottish Conservatives leadership election was an internal party election to choose a new leader of the Scottish Conservatives, who at the time were the third-largest political party in the devolved Scottish Parliament. Ruth Davidson was declared the winner of the contest on 4 November 2011 and succeeded Annabel Goldie. The election was triggered when incumbent party leader Annabel Goldie resigned her position on 9 May 2011, following her party's self-described 'disappointing' result in the 2011 Scottish Parliament election, where the Conservatives were reduced from 17 seats to 15.
However, a commission headed by Lord Sanderson in 2010 had outlined the need for a leadership election directly after the 2011 elections, and had been critical of the party's then-current leadership and conduct. Four candidates stood in the contest, all of whom were MSPs: Ruth Davidson, Murdo Fraser, Jackson Carlaw and Margaret Mitchell. The contest sparked intense debate within the party, with Fraser standing on a platform of disbanding the Scottish Conservatives in favour of establishing a wholly new, centre-right Scottish party, which would be autonomous but allied to the Conservative Party in England and Wales. His idea was rejected by his three opponents; however, it had support from over half of the MSP group. After a ballot using the single transferable vote method, Davidson defeated Fraser by a margin of 566 votes.
Background
The Sanderson Commission
Following the 2010 general election, David Cameron's Conservatives were the largest party and subsequently formed a government through a coalition with the Liberal Democrats. In Scotland, however, the party had gained no seats, and David Mundell remained the party's only Scottish MP. A committee then was established to analyse the situation, headed by Lord Sanderson, with Lord Forsyth also contributing.
The Sanderson Commission outlined these recommendations:
Elect a Scottish leader to have overall responsibility for the Party's performance in Scotland. Replace the weak leadership and governance framework with a streamlined, transparent and accountable structure. Create regional campaign centres staffed by campaign professionals. Increase support and resources for the local association network. Develop a clear vision for Scotland, one distinct from that of the Scottish Conservatives. Engage the entire party and wider Scotland in policy development - and recruit a chief policy adviser. Introduce balloted motions and open debate at party conferences. Overhaul candidate selection and development - and reform the then-current ranking process for regional list MSPs. Establish a process to identify and develop future party leaders. Contest every local government seat throughout Scotland. Launch a new fundraising and membership drive across Scotland. Provide an annual grant to Conservative Future Scotland to help develop the party's youth wing.
The commission also stated the need to hold a leadership election after the Scottish parliamentary election, as no leadership election by that point had been held by the Scottish Conservatives. Both David McLetchie and Annabel Goldie were selected as leaders with no ballot taking place.
2011 Scottish Parliament election
For the 2011 Scottish Parliament election, the party campaigned on what it called 'common sense for Scotland' and outlined the requirement to re-introduce university tuition fees and prescription charges, and emphasized what the party had helped pass through parliament as a minority force in the period from 2007 to 2011: 1,000 extra police officers, a four-year council tax freeze and a £60m town regeneration fund.
In the election, the Scottish National Party (SNP) under Alex Salmond won an unprecedented majority of seats, gaining 69 of the 129 available. The Conservative result was self-described as 'disappointing', as the party was reduced from 17 seats to 15. The party lost three of its six notionally-held constituency seats, including former party leader David McLetchie in Edinburgh Pentlands and Jackson Carlaw in Eastwood, although both individuals later returned to parliament on the regional list. Whilst the Conservatives could take comfort knowing that their losses were slight compared to those suffered by Labour and the Liberal Democrats, Annabel Goldie announced her resignation as party leader four days after the election.
Candidates
Four MSPs stood in the contest.