THE race to replace Ruth Davidson as leader of the Scottish Conservatives is now under way, with Michelle Ballantyne throwing her hat into the ring.
But who is, as it stands, the only person between Jackson Carlaw and the job of party leader?
The interim boss has been leading the party since Ruth Davidson quit as leader in September citing divisions with Boris Johnson and family commitments.
Yesterday, the SNP revealed a dossier of Carlaw’s track record, saying that the MSP for Eastwood had “acted as an apologist for the worst excesses of Tory policy when it comes to issues like austerity and Universal Credit”.
READ MORE: Jackson Carlaw's track record 'exposed' by SNP dossier
Ballantyne, who said a coronation in the contest may not deliver the "best outcome", is the Scottish Conservative MSP for the South Scotland region, a list seat she has held since 2017.
Within months she was appointed the party’s spokesperson for childcare and early years and had sat on the Public Petitions Committee.
In October 2018, Ballantyne was urged to resign following a “vile” benefit speech in Holyrood during a debate on poverty and austerity in which she defended the rape clause and two-child benefit cap imposed by her colleagues at Westminster.
Ballantyne said poor people shouldn’t be allowed to “have as many children as they like”.
She said: “The two-child limit is about fairness. It is fair that people on benefit cannot have as many children as they like, while people who work and pay their way and don’t pay decisions, have to make decisions about the number of children they can have.”
During the speech, even some of her Scottish Conservative colleagues couldn't hide how uncomfortable they were with her comments.
She was later accused of hypocrisy when it transpired that she had claimed child benefits and tax credits for her own six children.
READ MORE: Michelle Ballantyne urged to resign over ‘vile benefit speech’
Ballantyne refused to apologise for the comments and Carlaw, by then interim leader, described her words as “clumsy”.
Elsewhere, the South Scotland MSP has denied the existence of the bedroom tax and admitted she would be “happy” if government had nothing to do with the NHS.
“That will never ever happen because of the money around it but it should be run by the people who know best,” she said.
It has long been suspected that Tories at Westminster are planning to privatise parts of the NHS – especially after a post-Brexit trade deal with the US is negotiated.
Trained in London, Ballantyne began her career as a nurse before moving into health service management.
She then moved into finance before setting up a manufacturing company with her husband in the Scottish borders.
She made a return to health service management before heading a charity providing specialist drug and alcohol support to children, families and offenders before being elected as a Tory councillor at Scottish Borders Council.
Ballantyne initially kept her council seat after being elected via the list in the 2017 Scottish Parliament election but has since resigned.
On Sunday, Ballantyne said she would challenge Carlaw if she mustered the required 100 nominations from party members.
Today she said she had reached that goal and announced officially that she would run to be the next leader of the Scottish Conservatives.
Writing in today's Daily Telegraph, she said: "If the Scottish Conservatives are to be serious about levelling up and defeating the SNP in 2021 there is work to do, and I believe I have the background, the experience and the ability to lead the Scottish Conservatives from a party of opposition to a party of government.
"I recognise that it would be simpler and quicker to coronate a new leader," she said.
"But leadership coronations historically have not delivered the best outcomes for the country.
"I passionately believe that it is the inalienable right of our members to choose their leader.
"By putting my name forward to be Scottish Conservative leader, I am placing the power in the hands of our members, where it rightly lies, giving that leader the legitimacy to not only lead our party but to potentially lead our country as Scotland's next first minister."
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