Carlaw demotes Tory leadership rival as he reshuffles his shadow cabinet
JACKSON CARLAW has sacked his rival for the Scottish Tory leadership in a shadow cabinet reshuffle.
Mr Carlaw stripped Michelle Ballantyne of her role as the party’s social security spokeswoman and kicked her off the Tory front bench.
Subject to a confirmation at Holyrood, she will now be convener of the Economy, Fair Work And Culture Committee.
The change followed Mr Carlaw beating Ms Ballantyne three-to-one in an often acrimonious contest for the party leadership last week.
Mr Carlaw was later criticised by Nicola Sturgeon after naming women to only three of the 13 shadow cabinet posts.
The First Minister, whose Cabinet is mostly female, said it was “shockingly poor”. Twenty-seven of the SNP’S 61 MSPS are women, compared to seven of 31 Tory MSPS.
Ms Ballantyne had criticised Mr Carlaw’s interim leadership of the party during the General Election, when he presided over the loss of seven of its 13 Scottish MPS.
She accused him of lacking vision and a “policy vacuum” that left the party stuck talking about Indyref2.
Also demoted was farmer Peter Chapman, who lost the shadow secretary role on rural economy to hotelier Rachael Hamilton, and is now shadow minister instead.
Mr Carlaw said his reshuffle offered Scotland a “genuine alternative” to the SNP, and created new positions as well as moving key personnel between roles.
Adam Tomkins leaves his role on the constitution to become “shadow cabinet secretary for strategy”, while Donald Cameron, who had been running the party’s policy review, becomes shadow finance secretary, opposite the newly promoted Kate Forbes.
Former shadow finance secretary Murdo Fraser takes on constitution and external affairs. Liz Smith loses the education brief to become chief whip.
Jamie Greene moves from transport to education, while former chief whip Maurice Golden is made shadow cabinet secretary for economy, fair work and culture.
Mr Carlaw said: “This is a new shadow cabinet designed to take on the SNP leading up to May 2021, and take the Scottish Conservatives into government.
“We’ve got the best people fighting in the best places, and they’re going to bring us onto the next level. It’s simply not enough for us to be a strong and effective opposition any more.”
Asked about sacking his rival, he said: “I have put together the team I believe is the right team, a united team, to take the fight to the SNP.”
He said it was “ridiculous” to say he did not think women were good enough for his shadow cabinet.
Former leader Ruth Davidson remains on Holyrood’s oversight body, the corporate body, after ruling out a bigger role.
Ms Sturgeon tweeted: “In this day and age – and with all the available evidence about the importance of diversity in decision making – having a ‘shadow cabinet’ that is 75% male is shockingly poor.”