Blaming Annabel Goldie for Tory woes in Scotland is nonsense, says peer

The man behind a hard-hitting report into the future of the Scottish Tories insists leader Annabel Goldie is not to blame for the blunt verdict delivered on the party's fortunes.

Lord Sanderson also revealed said that Prime Minister David Cameron "likes" the report which hit out at the party's "weak" and confused" leadership.

The Conservatives must be seen to convey a "one singer, one song" message to the voting public, the former Scottish Office minister said as he explained the reports findings yesterday.

"We were set up post the Westminster elections in May and the results were diabolical and produced only one member of parliament," he said.

"That is why we were put in place and to suggest this all must fall on the shoulders of Annabel Goldie is just nonsense.

"It's the structure of the leadership in Scotland that we're trying to address."

About 300 submissions were made to the review from the party's grassroots.

"One thing that stuck out was the need to have a Scottish party with a Scottish leader elected by the Scottish membership and that leader should come from obviously the parliamentarians," Lord Sanderson added.

The leader would not have to come from the MSPs group at Holyrood under the report's proposals, with the peer insisting his may exclude "extremely good" candidates from the Commons.

Lord Sanderson said the current crop of MSPs have "plenty of attributes." But he said: "Whether they can actually measure up to what an overall leader of the Scottish party is going to require, that's another matter."

The review says 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.

The 77-year-old added that he had spoken with the Prime Minister about the review.

"He likes the report. We had a very good meeting with him," the peer said. Asked if Mr Cameron endorsed all the report's recommendations, the peer added: "Yes, I think so. But I can't speak for him, you'll have to find out for yourself."

As well as an elected leader the report also calls for an overhaul of the candidate selection process, as well as reform of the current ranking process for list MSPs.

Potential candidates from the world of industry and finance must be persuaded to come on board to secure the future of the party, the peer said.

"Otherwise the party will not survive in the way I would like it to," Lord Sanderson added.He hopes that "major changes" could be put in place before the Holyrood elections in May if the report is backed by the party executive.

On greater independence, the review dismissed proposals to pull the Scottish Conservatives out of the UK party, saying their problems had little to do with their legal structure.

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 is an area which must also be addressed, he added. The report revealed membership has shrunk from 40,000 Scots in 1992 to 10,000 now.