Douglas Ross asked Scottish Conservative candidate for Moray West, Nairn and Strathspey Kathleen Robertson to ‘step aside’, she said

A politician in the crossfire of a heated leadership contest has confirmed that then-Moray MP Douglas Ross asked her to stand aside as an MP candidate.

Councillor Kathleen Robertson, the leader of Moray Council, was the Scottish Conservative hopeful for Moray West Nairn and Strathspey in July’s General Election.

The career vet has now claimed that Mr Ross, her party’s leader and MSP for the Highlands and Islands, asked her to “consider standing aside” so he could stay an MP during a private meeting in July 2023.

Asked about the claims, Mr Ross said Cllr Robertson was not asked to stand aside.

He also argued that the meeting was organised to see if she was “still committed to standing for the seat”, after local party members asked why she had not announced her candidacy.

Mr Ross added: “She confirmed that she was and I then campaigned with her in the hope that she would win the new constituency."

However, Cllr Robertson rejected her party colleague’s ‘inaccurate’ claims about the meeting.

She instead backed an account of the meeting which was published by The Telegraph, describing it as “correct”.

This included claims that Mr Ross told the council leader he wanted to replace her as candidate during a meeting at his home, in exchange for a spot as Tory candidate for Moray at the 2026 Holyrood election.

The article also alleged that Mr Ross said he would resign as party leader if elected, since “his heart was in Westminster, not Holyrood”.

He had previously pledged not to run in the 2024 General Election, so he could lead the Scottish Conservatives through the 2026 Scottish Parliament Elections.

The Scottish Tory leader also allegedly backed Russell Findlay, a candidate in the ongoing leadership contest, as his successor the ongoing leadership contest, after Cllr Robertson asked who his replacement would be.

Mr Ross sparked the leadership battle when he pledged to resign as party leader following his controversial replacement of David Duguid as candidate for Moray East and Aberdeenshire North in June 2024.

“The Daily Telegraph was correct in reporting that Douglas Ross used a private meeting last year to ask me to consider standing aside in the Moray West, Nairn and Strathspey constituency in order that he could seek to remain at Westminster,” Kathleen Robertson said.

“Scottish Conservative Central Office, local associations and members were fully aware about the reasons why there was a delay to the announcement of my candidacy and I was under no pressure to announce until my personal circumstances allowed.

“Recent comments from Douglas suggesting a different account of this meeting are inaccurate.”

After the meeting was revealed, Scottish Conservative MSP Meghan Gallacher resigned as the party’s deputy leader.

And four of then-six candidates, Murdo Fraser, Jamie Greene, Liam Kerr and Brian Whittle, signed a letter requesting the contest be suspended due to the “disturbing claims”.

The letter asked party bosses what they did after concerns were raised.

Referring to the replacement of Mr Duguid, they asked if it happened “in the knowledge that Douglas Ross was seeking a way to remain as a Westminster MP, contrary to all the assurances he had given publicly and to colleagues.”

They also questioned whether the board knew Mr Ross had allegedly backed Mr Findlay and, “in light of it does it believe the current leadership replacement process has been affected by it in terms of fairness, scrutiny and transparency?”

Mr Ross has confirmed he plans to remain leader until his successor is elected on September 27.

Yesterday, leadership contenders Liam Kerr, Jamie Greene and Brian Whittle withdrew their leadership bids to back Murdo Fraser.

There are now three candidates remaining - Meghan Gallacher, Russell Findlay and Murdo Fraser - all of whom have the 100 nominations needed to run.