Over two years, from March 2022 to March 2024, the Scottish Conservative Party allocated a substantial sum exceeding £150,000 specifically for media training. This expenditure, paid for by taxpayers, was directed towards services offered by businesses that are managed by two individuals formerly affiliated with the party as media relations officers. The public exchequer incurred these costs as per details from the Holyrood expense register.
Gen Comms Limited, a consultancy headed by Ramsay Jones, the erstwhile director of media for the Scottish Conservatives from 2000 until 2012, collected £118,200 over these two years. This sum was paid out for equipping the party’s 31 MSPs with both individual and collective media communication skills, as per the record.
Meanwhile, Shorthand PR, another firm headed by Adam Morris, previously holding the position of head of media within the party, bagged £26,000. The services provided by this entity encompass written media and social media training and were engaged across 2023 and 2024.
The Scottish Conservative MSPs’ support budgets, allocated to each MSP to facilitate their formal responsibilities, served as the source for these expenses. However, the sum total of these costs is significantly higher compared to the expenditures of other parties, primarily stemming from their extensive media training costs.
For example, the Scottish Labour Party, employing a similar means for financing these services, disbursed £30,000 in March 2024 to Ebor Political Consultants Limited. This company, helmed by Alan Roden, a former media strategist, provided its expertise in return for this payment.
Moreover, representatives from various other parties have availed of such training services. MSP Neil Bibby from the Scottish Labour Party paid £459 for video editing training for his staff in the previous year.
Angela Constance, an SNP minister, had her staff engage in social media training in 2023 at an expense of £199. In addition, the co-leader of the Scottish Greens, Lorna Slater, invested £3,000 in communication skills training in the same year.
Edward Mountain, who is an MSP from the Scottish Conservative Party, also conducted transactions with Shorthand PR. In total, he paid £10,500 for communications consultation fees in three separate payments made from January through March 2024.
These expenditures for media training, amounting to more than £150,000 and footed by the taxpayer, are noteworthy given that Russell Findlay, the leader of the Scottish Tories, has garnered attention for his advocacy of a unique initiative. Findlay has been pressing for Scotland to establish its own Department for Government Efficiency (Doge).
The Conservative leader made a commitment in February of this year to create a Scottish counterpart to Elon Musk’s influential cost-effectiveness department in the United States. Findlay designed the proposed Scottish Doge to be responsible for reducing unnecessary spending, identifying areas for cost savings and, importantly, ensuring the taxpayer receives better value.
However, this proposition has invoked ethical queries, according to the Scottish Greens. MSP Maggie Chapman voiced concerns over this sizeable expenditure of public funds on media training spanning just a couple of years. Chapman questioned the value derived from such a hefty investment.
Chapman emphasized the importance of the rational use of funds such as these. She accepted that elected representatives should have access to support and training, yet she pointed out that there needs to be limits. Particularly troubling to Chapman seems to be the fact that considerable amounts were handed over to former colleagues within the party, an action she suggests invites more probing ethical inquiries.
Chapman further commented, attributing to the Tories a habit of imprudent spending and expressing little surprise at the recent revelations. On the other hand, the Scottish Conservatives defended their position. A spokesperson from the party responded stating that the contract was for the provision of specialist media training to all its MSPs for the entire financial year.
The spokesperson explained that the funding for this training was gathered from the pooled individual support budgets allocated to every MSP. The Scottish Conservatives thus maintain that the substantial spending was both justified and has been put to use responsibly.
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