READ: Russell Findlay’s speech to Conservative Party Conference 2024
Good afternoon everyone and welcome to Birmingham.
This is my first Conference speech as the newly-elected leader of the Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party.
A fresh new face… at the age of 51.
It has been a whirlwind since being elected leader just over 48 hours ago.
Yesterday I had the immense privilege of meeting His Majesty The King at a ceremony to mark 25 years of Scotland’s devolved parliament.
The leadership contest is over. It’s now time for the hard graft to begin.
We need to get our house in order.
We have to accept the enormity of the challenge ahead of us.
And we need to face some hard truths.
Because if we don’t admit our mistakes, and take responsibility for them, how can we expect to win back the support we have lost?
Some politicians are happy to take credit for success, yet accept no blame for failure.
I won’t be one of them. Not now, not ever.
So let me say it plainly:
Our party let down those who voted for us.
We lost our way and our sense of purpose.
All the good we did as a UK Government: Four million more people in work, raising the Personal Allowance, unstinting support for Ukraine, same-sex marriage, welfare reform, the pension triple lock, lifting hundreds of thousands of people out of poverty.
All of that still matters. We shouldn’t forget it.
But neither should we forget what happens when you don’t keep promises and let your standards slip.
You lose trust and you lose seats.
So, we must commit to do better and earn that trust all over again.
Our party needs to rebuild from the ground up across the United Kingdom.
Fundamental to this will be the election of the UK party leader.
I know that each of the candidates has what it takes.
Within hours of being elected leader in Scotland, I was delighted to speak with all four candidates.
I vow to work constructively with whoever wins.
As Scottish Conservatives, we are unionists to our core.
We believe in working across the UK to achieve progress, prosperity and security for all our people.
But I will say this from the outset:
Where we in the Scottish Conservatives disagree with the policies or actions of the UK party, we will say so.
This will be mutual. And it will always be respectful.
As we embark on a new chapter, there’s further opportunity to do things differently in Scotland.
For a decade, our politics has been dominated by the bitterly divisive argument about breaking up the UK.
The SNP are still at it.
John Swinney says he has “never been more convinced” of the case for independence.
Nicola Sturgeon says she is “absolutely certain” Scotland will become independent within her lifetime.
Humza Yousaf has called for – get this – “international mediators” to help secure independence. For goodness’ sake – this is Scotland, not Sudan.
Alex Salmond said the dream will never die.
Well, let me tell you Salmond, Swinney, Sturgeon and Yousaf; it is dead.
The SNP can talk about it all they like, but they will be talking to themselves.
They just don’t get it.
On the 10th anniversary of the independence referendum, Nationalist MP Pete Wishart asked why unionists were not out celebrating.
He asked where the street parties and rallies were.
Doesn’t that just show how the SNP misunderstand the people of Scotland?
Our patriotism – the patriotism of the majority – is quiet, not noisy.
It’s not flashy or abrasive.
We don’t feel the need to wave a flag from motorway bridges.
So we will leave the SNP to look backwards and instead turn our eyes to where they should always be focused. To our country’s future, not its past.
That need for a more optimistic and ambitious future is why I decided to become an MSP.
I stood for election because, frankly, I was scunnered with politics.
Now there’s a good Scottish word.
As an investigative journalist, I saw the disconnect between the people and parliament.
I know many people in Scotland – and across our islands – have lost faith in politics and in politicians.
They don’t believe politicians understand them or care about them.
So my job as leader of the Scottish Conservatives – the job ahead for all of us – is to bridge that gap.
It’s to prove, day in day out, by words and actions, that we get it.
That we hear their voices and understand their concerns.
That we can deliver change in substance, not just a slogan.
The Scottish Parliament is the place most in need of a hard reality check.
Holyrood has the resources and ability to shape Scotland and change lives.
Yet many people believe it fails to represent them and their families.
In 2015 nearly two-thirds of people believed Holyrood gave them more of a say in how Scotland is governed.
That figure has now dropped to less than half.
The SNP’s fixation with so-called progressive causes has widened the gap between politicians and the people.
They’ve wasted time debating a pardon for 16th Century witches.
And engaging in pound-shop international diplomacy.
This does absolutely nothing to help families in Scotland.
Damaging laws like gender self-ID, hate crime and fishing bans cause Scots to shake their heads in despair.
It’s not a lack of power which has led to the crumbling of public services under the SNP, as they argue.
It’s a failure to concentrate on the bread-and-butter issues.
They’ve left communities behind by focusing on radical ideology over real world problems.
My message is simple – enough of the nonsense.
Stop playing to the minority and start governing for the majority.
Focus on common sense for a change.
Start with Scotland’s economy – the motor that should drive prosperity and upward mobility.
The SNP have placed barriers in the way of enterprise.
They’ve hiked taxes to the highest in the UK.
They’ve sent a message that Scotland is closed for business and repelled ambitious people.
They chose an alliance with the anti-growth Greens – a party that would tax the air we breathe if they could – over Scotland’s business community.
Just last year, a leading think tank found that fewer than 1 in 10 companies believed the Scottish Government understands business.
Our party must provide the solutions to change that.
We know government does not create wealth – that’s down to the hard work of entrepreneurs.
So we need to put our faith in the instincts and ambitions of Scotland’s innovators.
We must celebrate success – not sneer at it.
That means junking the high-tax, high-spend agenda favoured by the Holyrood consensus.
Cutting personal tax rates so business can recruit and retain talented people.
A serious look at removing unnecessary rules.
I’m determined to deliver that.
So, I want to say to Scotland’s business community – come and work with us.
Let’s forge a new, closer partnership.
You might be tempted by Labour, but they’ll never really have your back.
We will.
Health is another area where my party must stand up against the Holyrood consensus.
Today in Scotland more than 800,000 people are stuck on NHS waiting lists.
That’s nearly 1 in six of the population.
More than 80,000 of them have been waiting for more than a year.
Thousands of young people are waiting to access mental health services.
All while life expectancy is declining.
This is the legacy of nearly two decades of SNP mis-rule.
It has to change, and we can’t leave this debate to the SNP and Labour who will always take the easy options.
We have to offer bold proposals that shape change.
Our NHS needs decisive action to ensure every penny spent delivers maximum value to patients.
That means setting ambitious targets to cut the cost of NHS admin.
We need fewer managers and more nurses, doctors and frontline workers.
And do we really need 14 health boards in Scotland?
To Scotland’s nurses, doctors and frontline NHS workers I say this –
Our party is listening.
The Scottish Conservatives are willing to drive change – even if it means sacking ineffective but highly-paid managers or tackling the vested interests of the health service.
And what of the single greatest failure of the SNP’s time in office?
Their woeful record on education has failed an entire generation of young people.
International research reveals a long-term slide in Scotland’s performance in reading, maths and science.
The SNP’s do-or-die promise to close the attainment gap between rich and poor has been broken.
And a recent survey by teaching unions found that assaults on teachers have nearly tripled over the last three years.
The SNP’s reaction to this classroom crimewave is not to restore discipline by dealing with violent pupils.
Instead, they want to focus on restorative practice and what they call a nurturing approach.
Prominent Scottish education expert Dr Lindsay Paterson suggested the Scottish Government has “completely lost touch with reality”.
He’s right.
The SNP don’t have the will to do what’s necessary.
We need to remove disruptive pupils so that the majority can learn in safety and peace.
We also need to bin the failing Curriculum for Excellence, which does not deserve that name.
Let’s put traditional learning back at the heart of the curriculum – and ditch the ideological issues which the SNP push on our children.
The entire structure of Scotland’s education sector needs overhauled, even if it upsets the unions.
John Swinney is so afraid of losing that he doesn’t even bother to try.
He’s too weak to push bold reforms because the SNP lack a majority.
Here’s what he should do:
Introduce a proper, game-changing Education Bill.
Bring in serious reforms to deals with the most disruptive pupils.
Get rid of failing education quangos bosses.
Grow a backbone. Don’t give in to powerful teaching unions.
They’ve tried the left-wing way. It does not work.
The slide in Scottish education began under Labour and accelerated under the SNP.
They must accept their approach is wrong and start doing what’s right, even when that is difficult.
Bring in a common-sense bill with strong reforms.
That’s my challenge to John Swinney.
Show some guts and resolve. Don’t just run the clock out on your career.
Scotland’s school children deserve so much better.
But the need for change goes much deeper than the economy, NHS and education.
A change of political culture within Holyrood is needed.
No more of the silly student politics and groupthink that has dictated public policy in Scotland.
The SNP are still talking about a merchandise ban for alcohol brands.
While I enjoy a pint of Tennent’s as much as anyone, the red letter ‘T’ on a glass does not force me into the nearest pub.
We don’t need hectoring bans on beer glasses.
We just need to respect people as grown-ups who can make their own decisions.
The SNP don’t do that – and Labour won’t either.
In Scotland, Labour regularly voted with the Nationalists – 101 times in this parliamentary term.
They’ve waved through damaging policies unwanted by ordinary Scots.
Labour and the SNP. They are co-conspirators in socialist conformity.
On gender self-ID, on hate crime law, banning new North Sea exploration, giving votes to prisoners, on damaging rent controls, Anas Sarwar’s Scottish Labour stood shoulder to shoulder with the SNP.
And now in government in Westminster, Labour will copy the SNP by driving up taxes for families and businesses.
Labour promised change for the country – but it seems they really just meant a change of wardrobe.
It leaves us – the Scottish Conservatives – as the sole voice in the Scottish Parliament speaking up for the common-sense views of mainstream Scotland.
That’s where we have such an exciting opportunity in the months and years ahead.
Scotland has seen through the SNP’s pathetic posturing, feeble excuses and catastrophic failures.
And the new UK Labour government is already on the slide as voters’ remorse bites hard.
So our opportunity is to put forward a positive vision for change in Scotland.
Change rooted in our common-sense Conservative values.
Change which chimes with the instincts of everyday Scots.
My politics are of optimism and aspiration.
They’re about giving a voice to those who feel ignored.
Speaking out for those who feel left behind.
Getting our country working again for its people, not for its politicians.
My politics are about common sense for change.
I’m about telling it straight; so if that upsets some people, then that’s the way it will be.
Because the public deserve straight-talking from their politicians.
And we’ll give them it.
Friends, we’ve had 17 years of SNP promises.
Of their wrong-headed priorities, of division and declining standards.
Nearly two decades of disappointment and division.
I believe Scotland can do better.
I know Scotland deserves better.
The months and years ahead are our opportunity to chart a better course for our country.
A brighter future for Scotland.
I’m resolved to seize that opportunity.
I know you are too.
So together let’s get down to the hard work of earning back the trust of the voters we’ve lost.
Of winning the votes of those who’ve never supported us before.
And in doing so, let’s at all times remember in whose interests we work.
The people of Scotland.
And the country we all call our home.
