Jamie Greene quits Conservative group at Holyrood

Conservative MSP Jamie Greene has resigned from the party's group at Holyrood.

The former frontbencher, in a letter to leader Russell Findlay, said he had made the "difficult" decision to quit the Tory whip with immediate effect.

The West of Scotland MSP accused the party of becoming "Trump-esque in both style and substance".

In a statement, Findlay said he was disappointed to lose an MSP but vowed his party would stand up for "common-sense values".

Greene, who sits on the left of the party, was one of six Conservative MSPs who ran for the leadership last summer, with Findlay ultimately winning the contest.

Green said when he joined the party under the leadership of Ruth Davidson in Scotland and David Cameron at Westminster it supported a "socially liberal view of the world".

"It was a party that made a young, working class, gay man from Greenock feel very welcome," he said. "I do not regret making that decision."

But the MSP warned the "modern" party he joined "no longer exists".

He also claimed the Tories were in a "grotesque dance with Nigel Farage" in an attempt to win over right-wing voters.

Green accused the party of adopting a "Reform-lite agenda that appeals to the worst of our society, and not the best".

He said: "Instead of proudly leading on equality, we now run the very serious and immediate risk of becoming once again the party of social division and morality wars.

"A cursory glance at our social media output confirms this fear.

"My generation of Conservative politician helped put the nasty party name in the bin, but it now appears that it was just filed away in a drawer marked pending."

Greene first ran as a Conservative candidate at the 2015 general election. He won a seat to Holyrood in 2016 and was re-elected on the West Scotland list.

He has served as the party's spokesperson on justice, education and transport.

The MSP previously said he was sacked from the frontbench in 2023 for supporting Scotland's gender recognition reforms.

Before being elected to parliament in 2016, he worked in the media.

Greene will now sit as an independent, leaving the Conservatives with 30 MSPs.

Speaking to reporters at Holyrood, Findlay said his party was focusing on issues that were important to Conservative voters, such as taxation, and "not the fringe of obsessions of Holyrood".

He denied that the party of Ruth Davidson was "gone", highlighting that she supported his leadership bid.

Findlay said it was "unfortunate" that the Tories had lost Greene - as well as several councillors to Reform - since he took over as leader.

He added: "Colleagues that choose to leave do so for all sorts of reasons, some of them fairly selfish to them.

"And I believe that the people of Scotland and our members see what we're doing, see what I'm doing, as the new leader, and have confidence in that."