Tory leadership favourite calls for cut to income tax using devolved powers

Published on Wednesday 5 October 2011 05:44

THE frontrunner in the Scottish Tory leadership election, Ruth Davidson, has told The Scotsman she would like to lead her party into an election with a promise to cut income tax using devolved powers.

Ms Davidson – who has been installed as the odds-on favourite in what many see as a tight four-candidate race – also insisted she wants the Conservatives to go into government in Holyrood and said she would be prepared to serve as Deputy First Minister in a Labour or SNP-led government.

Meanwhile, Jackson Carlaw, the man who some commentators believe could pip Ms Davidson to the job among the 8,500 Scottish Tory members, has promised to recruit an army of community organisers to send into constituencies around Scotland to revive the party’s membership base.

Mr Carlaw has already annoyed some of his Holyrood colleagues by saying they should only be allowed three terms if they fail to win a constituency.

And yesterday he risked angering some of them further by stating that he would scrap the shadow cabinet.

“I think that it is more divisive than anything and puts people into silos, so getting rid of it would be the first thing I do,” he told The Scotsman. The move will be part of his efforts to restructure the way the party comes up with policy by getting the membership involved.

Ms Davidson said she intends to set up two commissions on policy; one for businesses and one for agriculture and fishing.

She believes these represent two areas where the party has “lost its traditional support to the SNP and Lib Dems”.

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