Jeremy Balfour MSP quits 'reactionary' Scottish Conservatives

Tory MSP Jeremy Balfour has said he is quitting the party and will sit as an independent at Holyrood.

The Lothian MSP said he was taking the decision with a “heavy heart”, having been a member of the Scottish Conservatives since he was a young man.

In a statement posted on X, Balfour said: “This is not a decision I have taken lightly nor is it one that I am happy to make.

“However, I no longer feel that the party has a positive platform to offer the people of Scotland. I have found that there is little interest from the leadership in genuine policy innovation, particularly across the social justice and social security portfolio. Increasingly, decisions seem to be made by advisors who lack experience, while senior MSP colleagues are ignored.”

The Scottish Conservatives are led by Russell Findlay, who has been in post for almost a year.

In that time, polls have shown the party is currently in fourth place behind Reform UK in the run-up to next year’s Holyrood election.

Earlier this year, Jamie Greene quit the party and defected to the Lib Dems, saying the Scottish Conservatives had become “Trump-esque in both style and substance”.

Balfour said he feared the party had “fallen into the trap of reactionary politics” where a “positive, proactive agenda for real change has been rejected in favour of allowing policies to be dictated by what other parties are saying and chasing cheap headlines”.

He added: “I take no pleasure in leaving my political home after over three decades. But as I have watched the party drift away from the principles that led me to join, I believe that I have no choice.”

A spokesperson for the Scottish Conservatives said: “We are disappointed to read these comments but grateful for Jeremy’s service and wish him well.

“The Scottish Conservatives, under Russell Findlay's leadership, recognise that many people feel completely disconnected from politics.

“It is absolutely critical that our party continues to champion common-sense Conservative values and policies that focus on the issues of concern to hard-working Scots.

“All our members and supporters expect us to work hard to deliver the change that Scotland needs after 18 years of damaging and divisive SNP rule.”

Reacting to the news, Greene said: “I was clear back in April when I quit the Tories that it was a most unhappy of ships and others would follow my exit.

“Whilst Jeremy and I disagreed on specific issues over the years, I respect people who hold views which are clearly borne from life experiences and beliefs, as mine are.

“His accurate description of a Tory party which mimics the voices of other parties, slashes and burns budgets at the expense of society’s most vulnerable and has completely abandoned urban and central belt voters is one which indeed I share.

“One wonders how many more former colleagues will come to their senses and quit?”

Scottish Greens co-leader Patrick Harvie Findlay “must quit his pursuit of narrow, toxic policies and reconsider his politics to stop his party facing further erosion”.

He said: “To lose one MSP because of your narrow and toxic politics could be regarded as misfortune, to lose two looks like carelessness.

“When even a social conservative like Jeremy Balfour is saying you are too reactionary, it is time to reconsider your politics. This is someone who voted for every hard right Tory policy while opposing almost every progressive measure this Parliament has passed.

“While we as Greens rarely agree with the Conservatives views, there has been a notable shift in the party since Russell Findlay became leader. He has dropped any pretense of moderation and dragged the party even further to the hard right.

“It seems that the Tory party is no longer a space for their traditional members to feel comfortable in, which will only result in those who hold harmful extreme views remaining, and attracting more of the same to join them in place of the former MSP’s who leave, unless they rethink their approach.”