SHE described herself as a “Cinzano martini politician,” the type who liked a good political fight – “any place, anytime, anywhere”.
Ruth Davidson, officially the darling of the Tory family get-together in Manchester, packed out yet another conference fringe; this time a fireside chat with The Times.
I calculated some 300 people had turned up to hear the thoughts of someone, who, many believe, should be the next leader of the UK Tory Party. Bozza beware.
The conversation began with the inevitable reference to the big R as a “kickboxing lesbian”. To which, the top tartan Tory observed: “I haven’t kickboxed in years but I’m still a lesbian.”
Given the leadership question and whether the blonde bombshell will or will not challenge the Maybot, the journalistic inquisition tended to gravitate towards Ruth’s personal ambitions in what she herself has dubbed the “Tory pyscho-drama”.
The Scot dodged this way and then that but finally couldn’t resist a pop at the leading Brexiteer, saying: “What I would say is, I have a lot of my MSPs at this conference, if any of you think of writing anything without telling me that is counter to current Scottish Conservative policy, you are out on your ear because no one is unsackable.”
To put it another way, the Maybot might not have sacked the blonde Beatle but I would have had no hesitation in doing so.
But the leadership question would not go away even after the top tartan Tory insisted she did not want what looked like the “loneliest job in the world” inside No 10.
Yet if the choice was between becoming FM and stopping Jezza getting into Downing Street, Ruth revealed how the most important political factor in her life was saving the Union and that the chief comrade would be a direct threat to it. Which seemed to keep the door open to her seeking to succeed Thezza.
At another turn, the squaddie stressed how she did not think the Tory Party needed saving. “It needs to get over its nervous breakdown and man up a little bit.”
Later, the big R was asked about the Tories getting into bed with those nice fellows of the DUP. She quipped, to laughter: “I’m not sure Arlene Foster would be comfortable with the idea of being in bed with me.”
The 300 Tories laughed and laughed. Ruth to beat Boris? No contest.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel