2011 Scottish Conservatives leadership election

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2011 Scottish Conservatives leadership election

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Candidate Ruth Davidson Murdo Fraser 1st Pref. 2,278 2,096 Percentage 40.3% 36.9% Final Pref. 2,983 2,417 Percentage 55.2% 44.8%   Candidate Jackson Carlaw Margaret Mitchell 1st Pref. 830 472 Percentage 14.6% 8.3% Final Pref. Eliminated Eliminated Percentage Eliminated Eliminated

Leader before election Annabel Goldie Elected Leader Ruth Davidson

The 2011 Scottish Conservatives leadership election was an internal party election to choose a new leader of the Scottish Conservatives, who at the time were the third-largest political party in the devolved Scottish Parliament. Ruth Davidson was declared the winner of the contest on 4 November 2011 and succeeded Annabel Goldie. The election was triggered when incumbent party leader Annabel Goldie resigned her position on 9 May 2011, following her party's self-described 'disappointing' result in the 2011 Scottish Parliament election, where the Conservatives were reduced from 17 seats to 15.

However, a commission headed by Lord Sanderson in 2010 had outlined the need for a leadership election directly after the 2011 elections, and had been critical of the party's then-current leadership and conduct.^[1] Four candidates stood in the contest, all of whom were MSPs: Ruth Davidson, Murdo Fraser, Jackson Carlaw and Margaret Mitchell. The contest sparked intense debate within the party, with Fraser standing on a platform of disbanding the Scottish Conservatives in favour of establishing a wholly new, centre-right Scottish party, which would be autonomous but allied to the Conservative Party in England and Wales. His idea was rejected by his three opponents; however, it had support from over half of the MSP group. After a ballot using the single transferable vote method, Davidson defeated Fraser by a margin of 566 votes.