Scottish Conservative leader Russell Findlay will attempt to reassert his leadership credentials and focus on his “common sense” agenda after the party was rocked last week by another resignation.
In a speech in Glasgow on Monday he will call for a “new era of local power” to fix public services and rejuvenate the economy.
He will argue that decentralising decision-making and shifting the agenda on to key issues will help restore public confidence in politics.
However, he is facing criticism that his own agenda is detached from issues that concern voters. Jamie Balfour, who quit the party on Friday, said the party had “fallen into the trap of reactionary politics”.
Mr Balfour, who was the Tory spokesperson on social justice, said he would sit as an independent until the Holyrood election in May.
In his resignation letter, the Lothians MSP said: “Increasingly, decisions seem to be made by advisers who lack experience, while senior MSP colleagues are ignored.”
His resignation leaves the party with 29 MSPs after West of Scotland MSP Jamie Greene defected to the Liberal Democrats in April.
Mr Balfour was particularly scathing about policies that he described as wielding cuts to the welfare budget without regard for those affected.
The Scottish Conservatives said they were “disappointed” by Mr Balfour’s comments, but wished him well.
Mr Findlay will be keen to put the Balfour resignation behind him, though the discontent extends to several Conservative councillors who have defected to Reform.
The Tory leader is facing a crucial test of his leadership with the Scottish elections looking in May next year. In the Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse by-election in June the party slipped into fourth place behind Nigel Farage’s party which is expected to pick up seats at Holyrood.
Critics within the Tory party say Mr Findlay is struggling to develop the sort of presence that Ruth Davidson held.
One told Daily Business: “He lacks charisma, the public don’t know who he is. He has not made the adjustment from being the hard-talking journalist to a politician that people listen to.”
In his address in Glasgow, Mr Findlay will again portray his party as a champion of causes that matter to people, contrasting his tough approach on issues such as school discipline and local authority efficiency to the SNP’s “anti-business approach and their legislation including gender self-ID, hate crime and named persons”.
He will also propose that the SNP should no longer be allowed to direct civil servants to work on breaking up the United Kingdom.
He will say: “What happens at Holyrood is often a waste of time and taxpayers’ money. It fixates on fringe issues that the majority don’t care about.
“Parliament seems detached from reality. A new era of local power is needed to bring about change.
“Decision-making in Scotland is too centralised. Power should be transferred from politicians to the people, where it belongs.
“The people running Scotland have run our economy and public services into the ground.
“The Scottish political establishment believes that taxes must only go up, benefits must keep rising, immigration is always good, free speech must be curtailed to avoid causing offence, and anyone can choose their gender regardless of the rights of others.
“Anyone with a bit of common sense can see that change is necessary.”
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