Scottish Tories pick ex-car salesman to succeed Davidson

A former car salesman was unveiled today as the new leader of the Scottish Conservatives after a heated race to succeed Ruth Davidson.

Jackson Carlaw, 60, a father-of-two, won a vote of party members and will now prepare for next year’s Scottish Parliament elections.

He previously worked as a car salesman for 25 years before being elected as an MSP.

He beat fellow MSP Michelle Ballantyne by 4,917 votes to 1,581.

The pair traded insults during the contest, with Ms Ballantyne accusing him of running a general election campaign that “lacked vision and ambition” after the Tories lost seven of their 13 Scottish seats.

Mr Carlaw said Ms Ballantyne was the only member of the Tory frontbench team at Holyrood never to have submitted a “single policy proposal”.