RUTH Davidson has a paradoxical stance on the general election. The Scottish Tory leader is coy about her target in terms of seats - “I’m superstitious, I don’t want to jinx it,” she says - but completely upfront about her goal of emerging as First Minister-in-waiting.

“My job in the next four years is to get us from being a good strong opposition to being a competent alternative government for Scotland,” she says.

“I know that we’ve got a road to travel on that. But in every community we’ve now got a Conservative councillor. People see the effort we’re making, the work we’re trying to achieve.

“Getting MPs in would bolster that too. It would help show that at every level of government we’re there and we’re a constructive force - we want to make things better in Scotland.”

After almost two decades in the doldrums, the Scottish Tories are on a roll. The last general election saw them stuck on one MP, but by making her party a rallying point for Unionists in 2016, she doubled her MSPs from 15 to 31 and overtook Labour at Holyrood.

The Tories also pushed Labour into third place in last month’s council elections, their strongest result in more than 40 years.

With polls saying the Scottish Tories could now gain six MPs - more than they've had elected over the last quarter century - Ms Davidson hopes Thursday will be the third panel in a resurrection triptych.

What’s the doorstep pitch? “There are lots of things in Scotland we should be talking about - education, the economy, supporting our public services - and at the moment those discussions aren’t happening because we’re constantly talking about the constitution.

“There’s a way to stop that. You can send Nicola Sturgeon a message and we can do that job for you. As we enter this pretty difficult Brexit period we want MPs who are going to help get what Scotland needs, not just sit there and say Scotland wants to leave the UK.”

You say the SNP are fixated on the constitution, but you and Ms Sturgeon have been accused of being co-dependent, complicit in making independence the axis of Scottish politics because you both need it to drive votes. Are you the Ying and Yang of Yes and No?

She doesn’t appreciate the suggestion. “I desperately want to get this argument shelved so that we can talk about the other things that we all came into politics for. I don’t know anybody who came into politics for interminable constitutional discussions.

“We all came into politics to do things. We’ve put out position papers this year on education, the environment, agriculture, but everything in Scotland is getting drowned out.”

Another criticism is that the Tories are at it when they say “now is not the time” for a second referendum, because for you it’ll never be the time. Aren’t you trying to kick the issue past the 2021 Holyrood election, when Unionist MSPs might be back in the majority?

“We’ve been really clear. This isn’t about timing. This is about principle,” she says.

“You can’t ask people to make a big decision about their constitutional future when they don’t know what the alternatives look like, they don’t know what Brexit looks like, they don’t know what independence looks like. Nicola doesn’t just get to call a referendum every second Tuesday because she lost the last one.”

Do you foresee a second referendum before 2021? “I don’t - if this election sees the SNP losing a lot of seats across Scotland.”

What does ‘a lot’ mean?

She gets coy about numbers again, but adds: “It’s pretty obvious that Peak Nat has passed. Support for the SNP is dropping off. They’re the main proponents of independence, and unless support rebounds then, no, I don’t foresee a referendum before 2021.”

Talking of Ms Sturgeon, is she as divisive on the doorstep as the Unionist caricature?

“When Nicola became First Minister she said she wanted to listen to everyone, she wanted to be a First Minister for the whole country, that we could all move on together.

“But the way since she has prosecuted this case that it’s Indy or bust and everything else has fallen by the wayside... an awful lot of people feel betrayed.

“They believed her in the beginning, and they feel she’s gone back on what she said.”

You’re a former broadcast journalist, what did you make of Theresa May v Jeremy Paxman?

“I thought she was better with the audience members than she was with Paxman,” she says diplomatically of the PM’s car crash TV appearance.

“She’s never marketed herself as a flashy politician. She’s explained herself as somebody who wants to get the job done and that’s what I see.”

Are you worried the weak and wobbly label might damage your chances here?

“No, because the Prime Minister I know is neither of these things. She’s one of the longest serving Home Secretaries. She’s a serious member of government.”

You said recently the Tories are “rooted to the centre ground”, but many people see a party with a Darwinian indifference to the left behind. For example, the benefits freeze, the welfare reforms, the two child tax-credit limit and its attendant rape clause.

She defends them all. Are you not still the nasty party?

“I ask people to judge me on my record,” she bridles. “One reason we’re bringing the attainment gap to the fore is because we want to help youngsters from poorer backgrounds.

“We want to ensure on a UK-wide level that we get more people into work, that we make sure work pays. We’ve given people on the lowest incomes the highest pay rise in 20 years.

“We’ve not just we’ve introduced the national living wage, we’ve taken people on low pay out of tax altogether.

"I think the record there would disprove that assumption.”

Disproving assumptions about the Scottish Tories seems to be what Ms Davidson likes best. She’s done it in two elections so far. Thursday will tell is she can do it again.

This interview was conducted before the London Bridge attack.