I jumped the gun publishing this poll because on deadline day, last Friday, the list MSP Margaret Mitchell entered the fray. Would her candidacy have made any difference to the poll results? No.
Murdo Fraser, my Tory spies tell me, is doing a sterling job on the campaign trail assuring the grassroots fully understand his plan to abolish the party and establish a new one completely independent of Westminster control. His support for a move toward full fiscal autonomy is being less well received as many traditionalists view any further transfer of power from London to Edinburgh as a betrayal of the Union.
Ruth Davidson's political immaturity has been highlighted by her staffing problems and she, like Jackson Carlaw and Margaret Mitchell, is yet to produce any substantive proposals for the desperately needed overhaul of the party's internal structures. With the exception of Murdo Fraser, all the candidates are far to the right of the Scottish mainstream on the issue of constitutional reform.
The campaign is still young and there is time for someone to see the light and join Murdo in his effort to survive on the political scene in Scotland, yet why do I feel nobody cares?
Rebranding, regrouping, reinventing - call it what you will the Tories, along with the Libdems, will be a fringe party in Scotland for many years to come. The result of the leadership contest in November isn't going to set the heather on fire.
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