Tom Gordon
RUTH Davidson has confirmed she is to stand down as an MSP in 2021.
The former Scottish Conservartive leader said she was a “soon to be ex-politician” and was “terrified of having to try to find a real job in 18 months’ time”.
Ms Davidson, an ardent Remainer who quit after eight years as leader in August over a “conflict” on Brexit, has previously dropped hints about leaving at he next Holyrood election.
In October, she told a Wigtown Book Festival event she was “very unlikely” to stand for re-election in her Edinburgh Central seat, but left the door open to a change of mind.
However speaking at a journalists’ charity event in Glasgow, the former BBC journalist made it clear she had decided to move on.
Twice describing herself as “an ex-journalist and soon to be ex-politician”, she said: “I enjoyed being a journalist and I loved being leader of the Scottish Conservative Party so I would like to thank everyone in this room for the last 20 years, the first decade on one side of the wall, and the second on the other, and I am terrified of having to try and find a real job in 18 months’ time.”
She also confirmed her final decision after her speech.
Ms Davidson, 41, was the Scottish Conservatives’ most successful leader since devolution, leading her party to gains in the 2016 Scottish and 2017 Westminster elections.
However she has been dogged by controversy since quitting the role.
Last month she abandoned plans to take up a £50,000-a-year second job with London PR firm Tulchan Communications amid concerns about potential conflicts of interest.
She has also been criticised after signing up to appear on ITV’s general election night coverage for an “unprecedented” and so far undisclosed sum, after the BBC was unable to afford her.
Ms Davidson unexpectedly won the Edinburgh Central seat in 2016 by just 610 votes after the SNP incumbent, former minister Marco Biagi, stood down and a rookie candidate stood in his place.
Ms Davidson’s absence in 2021 is likely to trigger a fierce selection battle within the SNP over who should try to regain the seat for the Nationalists.
Former SNP Westminster leader Angus Robertson, a close ally of Nicola Sturgeon, has expressed an interest, in fighting the seat.
MP Joanna Cherry QC, who has ambitions to lead the SNP, could also be interested in a move to Holyrood.
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