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It is almost as if they’re saying “Anything you can do, we can do better” because while the UK, or should I say, English, Tories are manoeuvring about who should lead what’s left of them, their Scottish counterparts are desperate to get in on the act.
The Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party (SCUP) is entitled to a leader separate from whoever gets the nod south of the border. And at a time when the Tories are now providing only a leader of the opposition, rather than a prime minister, different party chiefs on either side of the border makes even more sense.
And while there appears to be little doubt that the English contest won’t be an especially docile affair, we should be aware that something similar will be the case in Scotland. Indeed, it looks like some Scottish Tories are getting their retaliation in early - to head off at the pass any attempt by the “magic circle” that runs SCUP to rush the election for a new leader at Holyrood.
They insist there should be as wide and as serious a debate about the party’s future as possible - on both policy and election tactics.
Said Stephen Kerr, a defeated candidate last week but still an MSP: “There is no need to bounce the party into a quick coronation in time for the start of the new parliamentary session… It would be entirely counter-productive…”
The vote is necessary thanks to yet another of Douglas Ross’s “accidents”. He may well have developed into a formidable opponent to whoever happens to be the leader of the SNP, but he can’t help opening his mouth to make way for his size tens.
Following his “Boris must go” demand, only to be quickly followed by a “Boris must stay” U-turn, his latest was to be seen to insert himself into what was thought to be a winnable North East seat, only to then lose it, but only after resigning as party leader.
As Lady Bracknell would surely have concluded, all of this smacked of carelessness in the extreme.
Just as there is in England, the inquest into last Thursday’s result north of the border is well underway. The party kept five of their six Commons seats, which is seen as a decent result by some bigwigs given the carnage that was going on all around them, but is a disappointment to others given that they had high hopes for several more.
There is no doubt that the votes of Reform candidates hindered the Scottish Tory cause, with Ross’s failure to win the Aberdeenshire North and Moray East seat proving to be the main Tory talking point of election night.
However, that was then. Who is to be the new Scottish Tory leader? The current favourite is reckoned to be Russell Findlay, a tough-talking former journalist who has impressed since being elected three years ago. Other contenders include the veteran Murdo Fraser, who lost out to Ruth, now Baroness, Davidson for the party leadership in 2011. Back then he had urged the Scottish Tories to break away from the UK party and might well advocate something similar again.
Also said to be considering a challenge are Jamie Greene and Maurice Golden.
Leaving aside Kerr’s doubts about a rushed election process, it is difficult to disagree with his view that the Scottish Tories should re-evaluate what has been their primary policy - the opposition to the SNP’s demand for independence.
In a column for this publication he complained that during the election the Scottish Tories had been “fighting a battle which no one now seriously believes needs to be fought”.
And he added: “Independence and the threat of separatism is not a real prospect.”
For what it’s worth, I think he’s right.
Scottish Tories need a leader ready to play a new tune after independence threat recedes
The inquest into last Thursday’s result north of the border is well underway