GREENOCK-born MSP Jamie Greene has joined the race to become the next leader of the Scottish Conservative party.

The Holyrood representative, who hails from Gibshill, pledged to ‘fix a broken politics’ which he says has left places like Inverclyde behind.

Mr Greene is the fifth Tory bidding to be Douglas Ross’s successor, alongside former journalist Russell Findlay, ex-Olympic sprinter Brian Whittle, deputy leader Meghan Gallacher and education and skills spokesperson Liam Kerr.

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The former St Stephen’s High School pupil has been in parliament since 2016, having previously worked in the media.

He said: “I’m standing to be leader of my party to fix a broken politics which has left places like Inverclyde behind for far too long.

“After 17 long years of SNP rule we need a leader who can form a viable alternative that voters can trust. That means doing things differently.

“Twenty-five years into devolution and there is a strong sense that Holyrood simply isn’t delivering for towns like ours.

“I want to see both of Scotland's governments working better together to deliver for areas like this and that means constructive leadership in all parties.

“That hasn’t been the case, and I will change that.”

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The leadership hopeful has promised a "radical shake-up" of how his party operates if he wins the contest and has spoken of his aim to "restore optimism to our politics".

Before becoming an MSP, Mr Greene spent 13 years working in TV production in London and during that spell rose to the post of senior executive at Viacom, the mass media company which owns Paramount, MTV and Nickelodeon.

He previously told the Tele that he had got his first taste of working in the media through hosting hospital radio at Inverclyde Royal Hospital.

He is currently the co-convener of Holyrood’s LGBTI+ cross party group.

Mr Greene was sacked from his party’s front bench role as the party’s justice spokesperson last year, in a move he claimed was motivated by his support for the Scottish Government's gender reform bill.

The Scottish Conservatives leadership contest is expected to finish by late September.