The nation needs unity (and not a walkover)

I MUST say I’m enjoying the Tory leadership contest. It’s the thinking woman’s Love Island, albeit with more bluster and less bed-hopping.

In particular, I’ve revelled in the rise and rise of Rory Stewart.

Written off at the ‘who’s he?’ start before walking his way across the country and into a surprising number of hearts, his open-minded, honest and occasionally clumsy style of politics is winning us over in droves. Having squeaked through the first round, he is now the third favourite, ahead of both Sajid Javid and fellow Scot Michael Gove.

I am concerned, however, by what appears to be a serious split among Scotland’s Conservative MPs.

Five voted for Gove, who is looking more like a busted flush every day; three, including Scottish Secretary David Mundell, voted for Matt Hancock. An unwise choice, it would seem, given that he withdrew from the contest yesterday.

Intriguingly, only two, including Boris Johnson devotee Ross Thomson, voted for the front-runner; while just one plumped for second-placed Jeremy Hunt. The other two refused to reveal who they voted for.

Where were the votes for fellow Scot Stewart, one wonders? Or, indeed, for Javid, who Scottish Tory leader Ruth Davidson has enthusiastically supported, yet now looks even less likely to make it to the final two than Gove?

While the Tories admirably refuse to vote like the SNP – that is, identically, with preapproved-by-party-HQ tweets to match – it does speak to a wider split within the Scottish faction of the Conservatives.

Are there divisions over which of these would-be leaders is best suited to strengthen the Union? Disagreements on what, and who, is best for Scotland?

Eventually, they will all have to fall into line. When they do, let’s hope – for Scotland’s sake – that these rifts can be healed.