THE scale of the Tory Party’s problem with its MPs and councillors can be seen in the roll-call of those who have hit the headlines for all the wrong reasons.
Ruth Davidson has been urged to clean up her party, but below, we've listed some of those to hit the headlines.
JANE LAX
JANE Lax, former treasurer of the Moray Conservative Association, was suspended from the party after she made a joke about First Minister Nicola Sturgeon’s miscarriage on Twitter. Lax asked "Is that when she dropped a book?" in response to another Twitter user's claim that the miscarriage was "fictional”, then posted three laughing emojis. A spokesperson for the Scottish Tories said the comments were “completely unacceptable”.
READ MORE: Tory member suspended over jibe about First Minister's miscarriage
JORDAN HOPWOOD
JORDAN Hopwood, the chairman of the Aberdeen University Conservative and Unionist Association, was suspended by the party after he appeared to suggest black people shouldn’t live in Ireland. Hopwood tweeted a comment on a video, featuring Irish people of colour, in which he put the word Irish in inverted commas. When he was pulled up on his comment, he went on to say it was now “laughable that all you Gaels fought for an independent catholic Gaelic Ireland”. He denied there was a “racial nature” to the comments.
READ MORE: Student Tory suspended for suggesting black people shouldn’t live in Ireland
DOUGLAS ROSS
DOUGLAS Ross MP sparked a furore shortly after winning his Westminster seat when he said that his number one priority, if he were prime minister for a day, would be “tougher enforcement against gypsies and travellers”. He later described gypsy travellers as a “blight on our community” who had to be “dealt with”. It then emerged that he had compared a traveller encampment to a landfill site years earlier while serving as a Moray councillor.
READ MORE: Tory MP who called for Gypsy crackdown is defended by Ruth Davidson
DONALD GATT
DONALD Gatt, a Moray councillor who joined the party after leaving Ukip, declared that low income couples “shouldn’t have kids”, asking: “Why do I have to pay for meals for those who chose to have them?”
ALASTAIR MAJURY AND ROBERT DAVIES
ALASTAIR Majury and Robert Davies were suspended by the party over their online activities. The Stirling councillors were reinstated following diversity training as part of disciplinary action, but Davies has since left the party. He likened black people to cannibals, while Majury, who remains a Tory councillor, dismissed homelessness and food support charities, attacked benefit claimants and made homophobic remarks regarding equal marriage.
IAN JAMES
IAN James, a councillor in Perth and Kinross, called Nicola Sturgeon a “poison dwarf”, described the term “African-American” as a “stupid politically correct euphemism” and hailed “political characters” like Enoch Powell.
NEILL GRAHAM
NEILL Graham, who represents Paisley Northeast and Ralston on Renfrewshire Council, appeared in a leaked BNP membership database. He said the mobile number listed was his, but denied membership.
RON MCKAIL
RON McKail, of Aberdeenshire Council, shared posts by Britain First and the EDL, one of which presented the false dichotomy that “homeless servicemen should come before any refugee”.
READ MORE: Scots Tory councillor apologises for comparing Muslim women to patio umbrellas
TODD FERGUSON
TODD Ferguson, Dalry and West Kilbride councillor for North Ayrshire Council, had to apologise to the SNP’s Joy Brahim for comments relating to her Dutch nationality.
READ MORE: Tory councillor deletes his Twitter account after xenophobic rant
KATHLEEN LESLIE
KATHLEEN Leslie, who serves on Fife Council, called Nicola Sturgeon a “drooling hag”. She was struck off the teaching register after admitting her fitness to teach was impaired but remains a Tory representative and has been pictured with Ruth Davidson in campaign photographs.
READ MORE: Tory troll who called FM ‘drooling hag’ gets job with MSP
TREVOR DOUGLAS
TREVOR Douglas of North Lanarkshire Council shared Ukip posts and said Serbia could “go back to selling white kids to slave traders”.
READ MORE: North Lanarkshire Council wants to splash out on a new flagpole – to fly Union Jack
COLIN MCGAVIGAN
COLIN McGavigan, of South Lanarkshire Council, branded carers “the great unwashed”.
EUAN BLOCKLEY
EUAN Blockley, a Glasgow councillor, is a former Ukip candidate who quit after failing to make the top of its regional list for the 2016 Holyrood election.
READ MORE: WATCH: This Tory councillor is REALLY angry about independence
ALASTAIR REDMAN
ALASTAIR Redman, on Argyll and Bute Council, faced pressure as he stood for Westminster in 2014 after sharing a Facebook post by Britain First, which welcomed news of Abu Hamza being convicted of terror charges in the US.
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