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Former Scottish Conservative MSP Jamie Greene has defected to the Scottish Liberal Democrats. He 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.
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”.
Greene 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.”
UK Lib Dem leader Sir Ed Davey also addressed the conference, saying 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”.
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.
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