Out of an enormous pool of candidates a new chairman is chosen ...

... although when the pool to choose from is only one the choice is probably not very difficult. The Scottish Conservative Party has chosen as its new chairman the sole Conservative MP in Scotland, Mr Peter Duncan MP. He replaces Mr David Mitchell; I know little about Mr Duncan apart from what I see in the media, but it certainly seems to be a positive move to have divested itself of Mr Mitchell, certainly not one of my favourite people.

Whether Mr Duncan can galvanise the Party in Scotland ahead of the next general election, and help to boost the Party's representation in Parliament will depend, in reality, on policies being developed centrally from London. Whilst the recent conference showed the Party not to be completely moribund, and to have some of what could be worthwhile economic policies, it still has a very long way to go - and in Scotland the task seems almost insurmountable, with a dwindling and elderly membership. Mr Duncan will need all the luck he can get.