THE Scottish Parliament has returned from recess this week, but it certainly hasn't been the quietest of summers for Scottish Conservative MSPs.

On top of the usual swathes of constituency work during recess, both I and my Conservative colleagues have been busy with the tricky business of selecting a new leader.

Unsurprisingly, there has been no shortage of talented candidates coming forward to set out their own vision for how to rebuild our party ahead of the 2026 Scottish Elections and beyond.

However, as we enter the final month of the contest, the list of candidates has pared back to just three: Russell Findlay, Murdo Fraser and Meghan Gallacher.

With the new Labour Government rapidly discovering that life in government isn't quite as easy as they thought and the SNP Scottish Government's financial mismanagement catching up with them once again, it is the ideal time for the Scottish Conservatives to offer voters a package of common-sense policies to get our country back on track.

I have no doubt that any of the remaining candidates would take this challenge in their stride, though for me, it is Russell Findlay who has the most convincing vision for the future of our party.

This vision is especially important when we look at the threat now posed to us by the Reform Party.

In a recent council by-election in West Lothian, Reform finished comfortably ahead of us. On top of this, a recent poll suggests that Reform could win as many as nine seats in the next round of elections in 2026 – several of which could be at the expense of the Scottish Conservatives.

The message to take from all of this is clear: Reform must be taken seriously. We can no longer pretend that a vote for Reform is nothing more than a protest vote.

Many of these individuals are people who, until recently, had traditionally voted for the Scottish Conservatives but no longer felt convinced by our message.

While some parties would like to write off these voters as being 'right wing', the majority of Reform voters hold mainstream, common-sense views.

As with many other voters, they feel that the current political system is no longer working for them – a sentiment which is quite understandable in 2024.

Instead of taking these voters for granted, or pretending that their concerns aren't valid, we should be trying to re-earn their trust, and win them back.

We can only do this if the Scottish Conservatives once again become a party with a clear positive message; one which doesn't accept the cosy consensus which has begun to dominate Holyrood over recent years.

Dealing with the Reform threat will be one of the key challenges facing our next leader when they take office.

No matter who is elected at the end of this month, their success will depend on them being able to reach out to these individuals in good faith, and to truly make our party the home of common-sense politics in Scotland.