STV News political editor Colin Mackay looks at the immediate challenges facing new Scottish Conservatives leader Russell Findlay.
Findlay beat rivals Murdo Fraser and Meghan Gallacher in the ballot of party members to take over from Douglas Ross in Holyrood.
The field narrowed from six to three after Brian Whittle, Jamie Greene and Liam Kerr dropped their bid for the top job.
Polls closed for Scottish Tory members – of which there are 6941 – at noon on Thursday, with the result announced just after 10am on Friday.
The new leader won 2,565 votes on a turnout of 60% with Murdo Fraser coming second with 1,187 votes and Meghan Gallacher in third with 403 votes.
The Scottish Greens, the fourth largest party in Holyrood reported a membership last year of 7,646 while Alex Salmond’s Alba Party, which has one MSP, said it had 7,507 members in 2023. The SNP remains the largest party in Scotland with 64,525 members.
