New Scottish Tory leader makes first appointments

Jackson Carlaw has given Annie Wells and Rachael Hamilton key roles in his party.

Jackson Carlaw has made the first appointments to his top team, just hours after being elected as leader of the Scottish Conservatives.

He announced that Glasgow MSP Annie Wells will be joint deputy leader, alongside Mr Carlaw’s campaign manager Liam Kerr, who has been in the role since September.

Rachael Hamilton, the Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire MSP, becomes party chairwoman, working jointly with existing chairman Rab Forman.

Mr Carlaw comfortably defeated Michelle Ballantyne in the leadership election, and he immediately pledged the party will change.

More appointments and potential sackings are expected, with Mr Carlaw saying in his acceptance speech: “I want to see our party change further and for the better: new faces, new thinking, new ideas and a renewed drive and determination.

“That will involve change: new appointments later today and in the coming days – both political and professional – and the presentation of a new and invigorated team at Holyrood next week.”