FORMER Scottish Tory leader Jackson Carlaw has been left out of his successor's front bench team.
In a massive snub to the Eastwood MSP and party’s former health spokesman, Douglas Ross unveiled his shadow cabinet without a role designated for his predecessor.
The move comes after intense speculation that the Moray MP plotted to oust Carlaw amid concerns over his performance and his party's prospects at next year's Holyrood election and over rising support for independence.
Instead, in an extraordinary move Ross has appointed former Scottish Tory chief Ruth Davidson as leader of the Tory MSP group where she will challenge Nicola Sturgeon at First Minister questions every week.
Jamie Greene and Liam Kerr will remain as Shadow Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills and Shadow Cabinet Secretary for Justice respectively. Murdo Fraser returns to his previous role as Shadow Cabinet Secretary for Finance from the constitution remit.
Miles Briggs has been sacked from the health brief and is replaced by Donald Cameron. Briggs will instead take up the role of chief whip.
READ MORE: Douglas Ross refuses to deny plotting with Ruth Davidson in car crash interview
Liz Smith returns to the Tory shadow cabinet from the whips team and will cover Environment, Climate Change and Land Reform.
Meanwhile, Ross has appointed Oliver Mundell as Shadow Cabinet Secretary for Rural Economy and Tourism, while Dean Lockhart becomes Shadow Cabinet Secretary for the Constitution, Europe and External Affairs.
Annie Wells and Liam Kerr have both lost their positions as deputy leaders after Ross announced there would be no deputy leader roles.
Wells still has a role as Shadow Cabinet Secretary for Communities and Local Government.
Maurice Golden becomes Shadow Cabinet Secretary for Economy, Fair Work and Culture and Graham Simpson Shadow Cabinet Secretary for Transport, Infrastructure and Connectivity.
Rachael Hamilton remains Shadow Cabinet Secretary for Social Security and Older People Ross had previously confirmed that Davidson had agreed to take First Minister’s questions for the Conservatives until the next Holyrood election.
Davidson has been named as a new Tory peer, despite her long-running antipathy to Boris Johnson. She has said she would postpone taking her seat in the Lords until March, when she will quit her Holyrood seat of Edinburgh Central before the Scottish Parliament election in May.
Carlaw quit after a series of polls showed the SNP was on course to win an overall majority in the election, putting a second independence referendum back on the agenda, with support for the Tories slumping to 20%
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