Scottish Conservatives

The Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party (Scottish Gaelic: Pàrtaidh Tòraidheach na h-Alba), is part of the UK Conservative Party active in Scotland. It currently holds 6 of the 57 Scottish seats in the House of Commons, 12 of the 129 seats in the Scottish Parliament, and comprises 176 of Scotland's 1,226 local councillors. The Scottish Conservative party has no separate Chief Whip at Westminster. The party's policies in Scotland promote conservatism and the continuation of Scotland as part of the United Kingdom. The Leader of the Scottish Conservative Party is Russell Findlay who was elected to the role in September 2024. The party campaigns in elections to the UK Parliament, Scottish Parliament and local government. The party evolved in its present structure from the Unionist Party which existed from 1912 to 1965, combining elements from the pre-1912 Conservative Party in Scotland and the Liberal Unionists. Gradually entering local government from the 1960s, the party replaced previous local groupings of Progressives and Moderates. The party faced a decline in the latter half of the 20th century, reaching an electoral low-point in the 1997 UK election and returning no Members of Parliament. The Scottish Conservatives enjoyed a temporary revival following the 2014 Scottish independence referendum, surpassing Scottish Labour as the leading unionist party in the 2017 and 2019 UK elections, 2016 and 2021 Scottish Parliament elections, and 2017 Scottish local elections. However, the party suffered significant losses in the most recent elections to the UK parliament in 2024, the Scottish Parliament in 2026, and local authorities in 2022.