Tom Peterkin: Don’t write off the ‘wild card’ candidate in a three-way contest for the Scottish Tory leadership,

IN CONTRAST with the inactivity and tedium that has characterised Labour’s leadership contest so far, it is an understatement to say the race to lead the Scottish Conservatives is hotting up nicely.

Murdo Fraser’s bombshell announcement at the weekend was a bold attempt to go right to the heart of the problems facing the centre-right in Scotland. Whether he succeeds in his ambition to create a new progressive Scottish party depends on him being able to convince a declining and ageing membership that his radical vision is the right one.

In that regard, he faces a tough battle. The leadership race has been portrayed by some as a battle between the arch-moderniser Fraser and the arch-traditionalist Jackson Carlaw, a politician with views on the party that could be more palatable to the blue rinsers.

But there is also Ruth Davidson, more of a wild-card candidate, who launches her campaign today. Her politics are more difficult to pin down, but she has the potential to come through the middle of Fraser and Carlaw.

When it was first suggested she would stand, many believed she would be the most radical candidate. On that one, she appears to have been outflanked by Fraser, whose plan to break away from London by disbanding the Scottish Tories was a bit of a show-stopper. Out-Murdoing Murdo now seems impossible.

But the fact Davidson appears to be close to the Tory donor Sir Jack Harvie underlines that she is a very serious candidate indeed. Personable and media-friendly, it has been suggested she would be David Cameron’s choice – a label that is more likely to impress party members than the Scottish public at large.

And in this contest, it is the party members that matter. While being a Cameroon may not impress Scottish voters, it is clear that a key tactic of Davidson will be to persuade the grass roots that she has widespread electoral appeal.

When it comes to that task, the 32-year-old has youth on her side. As an openly gay MSP, she also represents a more modern side to the Conservative Party than one scarcely could have envisaged a few years ago.

The endorsements that we have seen thus far have spelled out in capital letters the message that Davidson will appeal to the wider public.

“A breath of fresh air” were the words used by Murray Tosh, the former Tory deputy presiding officer yesterday.

“Like no-one else, she embodies and appeals to those young and ambitious voters who will decide the outcome of elections for a generation,” he said.

Tosh’s words were echoed by John Lamont, the first MSP to back her, who said at the weekend that she embodied the “very voters we have to convince if we’re to start winning again”.

So, we know that she is young, professional and aspirational. Today, we should find out precisely what she stands for.