Review orders overhaul

Published on Monday 9 May 2011 19:06

FORMER Tory minister Lord Sanderson was asked to carry out a full review of why the party failed to make electoral gains north of the Border after last year's UK general election, when they returned only one MP from Scotland.

His panel, which included former Scottish secretary Lord Forsyth, looked at the organisation of the party, how it selected candidates and its leadership.

The main recommendation was that there should be one clear leader in Scotland and that that person need not be an MP or MSP but should be elected by the whole membership on a one-member-one-vote basis. If the Scottish leader was not an MSP, then MSPs should elect their own Holyrood leader.

The review also said the new leader must have the power to appoint the Scottish party chairman, a job currently in the gift of UK party leader David Cameron.

Other key recommendations, which were unanimously put forward by the review team, included a complete overhaul of the party's internal workings.

Leadership in the voluntary side of the party must also be addressed, Lord Sanderson said. The report revealed membership had shrunk from 40,000 Scots in 1992 to 10,000 in November.