Former Tory MSP Jamie Greene defects to Lib Dems

Former Scottish Conservative MSP Jamie Greene has defected to the Scottish Liberal Democrats.

The former frontbencher quit the Scottish Tories with immediate effect on Thursday.

In a letter to leader Russell Findlay, the West of Scotland MSP said the party had become "Trump-esque in both style and substance" to win over right-wing voters.

At the Scottish Liberal Democrats' annual conference in Inverness, its leader Alex Cole-Hamilton confirmed Greene had joined the party.

Cole-Hamilton described him as an "effective communicator" and said Greene had "such symmetry with our outlook and our values as a party".

He said Greene had agreed to join the party earlier that morning.

Greene thanked the Lib Dem conference for the "incredible reception" and joked that it was "double the size" of the Scottish Conservative conference.

"The last few days have been tumultuous to say the least," he said.

"In the last 48 hours I've gone from being politically homeless like many Scots right now, to joining you here now in my new home.

"I think everyone deserves a home to feel welcome where they know they belong. I know my journey here was slow but it's the destination that matters, not how you get here."

He added: "It really feels like a breath of fresh air to be here in this room with you now."

Greene has been the West of Scotland MSP since 2016.

In his speech at the Lib Dem conference, Greene said he wanted to reach out to "compassionate, centre-right Tories" who also felt "scunnered with the endless culture wars and fringe issues that my former party has become obsessed with".

He said: "In these dangerous times that we live in, let me be direct.

"The language of hatred, of right-wing populism, and of scapegoating people must be fought against and must be defeated.

"I trust the goodness of Scottish people and I trust them to take on that fight in the tolerant, liberal society that I think Scotland really is."

Greene added: "I think we need to bring back some decency, some tolerance and some much needed respect back into Scottish politics."

He said the Scottish Liberal Democrats were the "home" of those values.

UK Lib Dem leader Sir Ed Davey also addressed the conference in Inverness.

He said Greene was one of thousands of former Conservatives who had seen the party "move further and further away from the fundamental, decent values we share".

"But people have found those values strong in the Liberal Democrats," he added.

A Scottish Conservative spokesman said: "Our party will continue to respect the results of referendums and oppose the SNP's dangerous gender ideology."

When Greene quit the Scottish Conservative on Thursday, leader Russell Findlay said it was "unfortunate" that they had lost him, as well as several councillors who had joined Reform.

"Colleagues that choose to leave do so for all sorts of reasons, some of them fairly selfish to them," he said.

"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."

This is a significant moment for the Scottish Liberal Democrat leader - and an awkward one for the Scottish Conservative leader.

The defection of Jamie Greene to Alex Cole-Hamilton's party is being heralded as a win for true liberal values - holding the line against what they see as the onslaught of "Trump-esque" politics.

In this carefully co-ordinated move, Greene had criticised his former leader Russell Findlay for caving in to a "Reform-lite" agenda.

The first minister yesterday also accused the Tories of "cuddling up to Farage".

In a rather unexpected way, the Liberal Democrats are moving closer to the SNP as they form a defensive wall against what they regard as "populism".

The two parties also did a deal on the budget - and you wonder what support the Liberal Democrats might provide to the SNP after the Holyrood election next year as they try to stand up to Reform UK?

There are other considerations here.

An extra MSP means the Liberal Democrats get a seat on the Scottish Parliament bureau (its admin body) - increasing influence and gaining more speaking time.

Numbers matter for Jamie Greene, too.

There's a much higher chance of being elected as a West of Scotland Liberal Democrat MSP - taking us back to the days of party stalwart Ross Finnie who was successfully elected three times for the party in that region.