Brian Monteith: Scots unlikely to care much about conference

DOES this week’s Conservative Party conference in Manchester matter to people in Scotland?

As four Tory MSPs slug it out to become the leader in Scotland, in what is becoming a disappointingly bad tempered contest, it is surely important to ask if the party’s annual deliberations will play any role in its revival, especially since three of the candidates wish to emphasise the importance of remaining within a London-based and financed British organisation.

For Jackson Carlaw, Ruth Davidson and Margaret Mitchell it is the sheer Britishness of the brand they wish to defend that matters; so what better time to consider how the annual bun fight, beauty parade and love-in, that is all rolled up into one union flag impacts on the Scottish political psyche?

When George Osborne gets up to speak and talk about the economy it will be of importance because, as Chancellor of the Exchequer, what he says will influence the markets, have ramifications for public policy and, so long as we have the Barnett Formula, impact on Scottish public spending.

When Liam Fox thumps his tub about the threats to our land it will matter because as Secretary of State for Defence what he says can determine the lives of many Scots who are proud to serve in Her Majesty’s forces abroad and at home.

When William Hague tells us about Britain’s relations with Europe or, say, its role in Libya’s liberation, it will be relevant because Scotland has an interest through jobs, business and families living overseas.

These ministers are responsible for reserved matters that are dealt with at Westminster so to some extent they must have relevance, but the speeches by Michael Gove on education, Andrew Lansley on health and others covering transport, justice, housing, planning, farming, culture and local government, being the responsibility of Holyrood, will generally be of little importance and make no impact at all – unless some stupendous gaffe is made, such as forgetting the name of a candidate for the Scottish leadership.

Even so, the impact of Osborne, Fox and Hague will still be diminished because in our ever more presidential style of politics the media will focus on David Cameron, who as Prime Minister will cover the economy, defence and foreign affairs anyhow.

Ask any Scot in the high street next week what Osborne, Fox or Hague said during conference and you would be doing well to find out. Indeed, the Prime Minister himself will have to say something out of the ordinary for it to become memorable or have any impact.

The truth, I suggest, is that the British party conferences are becoming less and less important within the Scottish political scene and are really more about positioning by creating an aura and a mood around their leaders rather than the debate and presentation of policies.

For members of all mainstream parties the plethora of fringe meetings has become the real conference where battles are fought, batteries recharged and spirits raised or dashed.

The vast majority of what happens in Manchester this week will therefore be an irrelevance and will struggle to advance the cause of conservatism by one vote.

It is surely far more important for any political party that has ambitions to become the dominant force in Scotland to make its gathering here in its own land the focus of far greater media attention and to have a stronger impact with the Scottish public.

This is just another symptom of the post-devolution developments that Scottish Conservatives, indeed all unionists, need to come to terms with and it is depressing, though not unexpected, that its sole MP David Mundell does not “get it”.

Yesterday the junior Scottish Office Minister came out and declared his support for Ruth Davidson.

This was despite having given a written guarantee that he would not support any candidate during the election process.

As a qualified lawyer the breaking of his word leaves Mundell’s credibility in shreds.

It was not enough for him to say that he did not think Murdo Fraser’s plan for a new centre-right party would not work, instead he characterised the idea as a betrayal of the Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party and its members.

Mundell’s intervention does more harm than good to Ruth Davidson’s cause and a period of silence from him would be a blessing to her and her supporters.

The irrelevance to Scots of so much that is happening at this week’s Conservative conference tells its own story and Conservative party members should waken up to this.

If Scottish Conservatives wish to become relevant again, if they want to see more of their like elected, their principles applied in government and their policies enacted then they must create a new, far bigger tent that the many supporters of the centre-right that currently feel excluded from can flock to.

The dropping of the name Conservative and Unionist is not a betrayal of values – it is a chance for rebirth, it is the butterfly shedding its constricting pupa so it can fly.

That it is left to a dwindling number of conservatives to decide this may be the biggest obstacle that Murdo Fraser faces for they will naturally want to preserve what they have nurtured and toiled over. They must be honest with themselves and think of the opportunities that a fresh start presents.

Conservative members need to take a leap of faith and invest trust in Fraser’s brave and audacious strategy.

To do otherwise and endorse any of the other candidates is to ignore what all of the last eight parliamentary elections have told them – that the Conservative Party can no longer regain the credibility or the trust of the Scottish people in sufficient numbers and that it is time for a new beginning.

• Brian Monteith is policy director of ThinkScotland.org