Aberdeen MSP Liam Kerr becomes fourth candidate to confirm Scottish Tory leadership bid

Liam Kerr has become the fourth MSP to confirm he is running to replace Douglas Ross as the leader of the Scottish Conservatives.

The 49-year-old MSP said he wants to give people a “genuinely Conservative programme which gives them a reason to vote for us”.

The MSP for North East Scotland also said he wants to give his region a voice “at the top the Scottish Parliament”.

Announcing his leadership campaign in his Telegraph column on Monday, he wrote: “Today, I offer myself for nomination as party leader because under my leadership, we would do both.

“Short-term solutions and temporary fixes dominate. There is a terrifying lack of deeply considered, long-term, cross-portfolio thinking.

“Under my leadership, the Scottish Conservatives will start from the future: a 15-year vision of what a vibrant, prosperous UK and world-leading Scotland will be.”

He joins three other Tory MSPs – former crime journalist and current Holyrood justice spokesman Russell Findlay, ex-Olympic athlete Brian Whittle, and Scottish Conservative deputy leader Meghan Gallacher – in declaring they will run to succeed Ross.

Ross announced he would step down as leader midway through the recent General Election campaign.

There had been unease in the party after he put himself forward as a candidate in Aberdeenshire North and Moray East, running instead of the incumbent MP David Duguid after party chiefs deemed him too ill to stand. Ross lost the seat to the SNP.

The new leader of the Scottish Conservatives will be in place by the end of September.

Nominations formally open on August 8 and close on August 22.

Candidates will need 100 nominations from party members to get on the ballot paper.

Voting will follow a preferential voting system, with members ranking their chosen candidates in order of preference.

While the new Conservative UK leader and successor to Rishi Sunak will not be known until November 2, the Scottish party has set out a timeline which will see its latest leader unveiled on September 27.