Three remain in Tory leadership contest after two more drop out

Three candidates remain in the Scottish Conservative leadership contest, after two more MSPs dropped out.

Jamie Greene and Liam Kerr have ended their campaigns and will now back Murdo Fraser.

Brian Whittle pulled out of the race earlier in the week, also saying he would be supporting Mr Fraser.

The Perthshire MSP will be going up against justice spokesman Russell Findlay and former deputy leader Meghan Gallacher in a vote of party members. The winner will be announced on 27 September.

Each candidate has to secure the backing of 100 party members to make it onto the ballot paper.

The leader post became vacant after Douglas Ross announced his intention to resign during the general election campaign.

The contest will be conducted using a preferential voting system.

The bottom ranked candidate will be eliminated in each round, with their first-preference votes redistributed until one candidate receives over 50% of votes cast.

Whoever wins the race will need to contend with a challenging political landscape for the Conservatives in Scotland.

In July's general election, despite losing just one MP, they won just 12% of the vote share.

They also lost deposits in 16 seats where they gained less than 5% of ballots, whereas in 2019 they held onto their deposits in every seat they contested.

The election proved the undoing of Mr Ross, who will remain in place until a new leader is chosen before returning to the backbenches.

The Highlands and Islands MSP faced an internal revolt over a last-minute decision to run for Westminster again, in place of colleague David Duguid who had been ill in hospital.

The Scottish Tories are still the second largest party at Holyrood, but Labour are gaining ground and Nigel Farage’s Reform could also pose a threat.