Cameron’s ‘pride’ in Ruth’s leadership
DAVID Cameron saw Ruth Davidson as his ‘political soulmate’ and has said losing the independence referendum would have ‘broken my heart’.
In his autobiography, the former prime minister told of his ‘pride’ in her leadership of the Scottish Conservatives and their close friendship.
In For The Record, Mr Cameron writes: ‘It would have been inconceivable ten years earlier that we could be led in Scotland by a young, gay, female, Territorial Army signaller. Ruth and I were immediate political soulmates.
‘I was so proud of how our party had changed, and excited about what we could achieve with Ruth at the helm in Scotland.’ Mr Cameron adds: ‘In 2017, we snatched so many seats from the SNP that we became the second biggest Scottish party in the UK Parliament.
‘With the phenomenal Ruth Davidson at the helm, I don’t doubt we could become the biggest.’
This week, Mr Cameron sparked outrage after revealing details of a private conversation in which he begged the Queen to intervene in the 2014 independence referendum.
He admitted suggesting the monarch could ‘raise an eyebrow’, highlighting concerns over the break-up of the UK. Just days before the referendum, the Queen told a well-wisher outside Crathie Kirk, Aberdeenshire, that she hoped ‘people would think very carefully about the future’.
And, speaking in the second episode of The Cameron Years, a BBC series exploring his premiership, the former prime minister said: ‘It was the most important referendum because the idea of Scotland leaving our family of nations would have broken my heart. The decision about the European Union, I very much regret we lost the referendum. I wish we’d voted to stay in a reformed European Union but that was a choice for the United Kingdom to make.
‘The break up of the United Kingdom, to me, would have been far worse.’