OLYMPIAN and rape clause denier Brian Whittle has launched his bid to become the next leader of the Scottish Tories.

Mr Whittle had been a regular on the international athletics stage in the ’80s and ’90s, competing at 400 and 800m, going on to become a Tory MSP on the South of Scotland list in 2016.

Announcing his candidacy, Mr Whittle outlined his “core principles of education, enterprise and empowering people, adding that the party must be prepared to tell “hard truths.”