West of Scotland MSP Jamie Greene has confirmed he'll be standing to be the next leader of the Scottish Conservatives.

And he pledged a "radical shake-up" of the party's Holyrood strategy.

Largs-based Mr Greene was widely tipped to announce his candidacy. He is the fifth Tory to stand in the race to succeed Douglas Ross, alongside former journalist Russell Findlay, ex-Olympic sprinter Brian Whittle, deputy leader Meghan Gallacher and education and skills spokesperson Liam Kerr.

The contest is scheduled to finish by late September.

Mr Greene told the BBC: "“I want to fix politics, fix our party, and fix Scotland. That means a radical shake-up of how we do things in Holyrood and a change in leadership style.”

Read more: https://www.ardrossanherald.com/news/24460885.possible-conservative-leadership-candidate-faces-deselection/

He also promised to deliver “meaningful change”, including giving members a bigger say in how the party was run, as he condemned “pointless grievance mongering” in parliament.

The MSP added: “The country needs a common sense, centre-right party which the next generation of voters will trust, a party with a viable and honest path to power.

“That’s why my campaign will focus on how we attract people who have never considered voting Conservative before, but who are drawn to our common-sense ideas.

“We must change and that means taking some risks, or face being in eternal opposition.”

Elected to parliament in 2016, Mr Greene is the co-convener of Holyrood’s LGBTI+ cross party group.

But he was sacked from the party's front bench last year by Mr Ross over his support of the controversial gender reform bill.

And last month, senior officials from the North Ayrshire and Arran Conservative and Unionist Association warned he faced defeat if he attempted to stand as a candidate in Cunninghame North again at the next Holyrood elections in 2026.

They said the gender reform controversy was one of the issues concerning local party members. 

Mr Ross revealed he would quit as Scottish Tory leader during the general election campaign earlier this summer.