Davidson aims to govern

Scots Tory leader reveals five-year plan to beat SNP and become First Minister

Ruth Davidson has revealed that she thinks she can defeat Nicola Sturgeon and become the next First Minister of Scotland in five years’ time.

The Scottish Tory leader told delegates at the Conservative conference in Birmingham that she had a 10-year plan for the job after claiming it in 2011.

Since then, she has gone on to push Labour into third place at Holyrood, something previously seen as impossible, and now has her sights set on taking residency at Bute House.

Asked if her plan ended with her being First Minister, Fife-raised Ms Davidson said: “I think that anybody would be in the wrong job if they were leading a political party in a legislature and they did not wish to be the party of government in that legislature. Of course that’s the aim.

“Just as it was fanciful five years ago to say we were going to overtake Labour and be the opposition.

“I understand there is a lot of work to do to be able to move from being a strong opposition to being an alternative party of government.

“We have been sitting in the Scottish Parliament since 1999 and I don’t think at any point we have looked like an alternative party of government.

“I want us in five years’ time to look like an alternative party of government – and an attractive one at that.”

Prime Minister Theresa May gave her backing to Ms Davidson’s high ambitions, telling a noisy fringe event that efforts must focus on continuing the Tories’ electoral success at next year’s council elections.

The SNP attacked Ms Davidson’s credentials for the job, branding her a “political contortionist” trying “to keep in with the right-wing Brexiteers now leading her party at Westminster”.

And the Nationalists highlighted figures from the Office of National Statistics which reveal Brexit could create a £270 million barrier to business and tourism from visa charges levied on travel to and from Scotland.

EU citizens currently enjoy free travel to other member states, with 1.4 million EU visitors arriving in Scotland in 2015 and spending an average of £654 during their stay.

SNP MSP Emma Harper said: “If the Tories decide we don’t get to keep the benefits of free travel with our European neighbours, that creates a £270m ‘Brexit Barrier’ – the annual cost of Scots travelling to EU countries and for European visitors coming to Scotland.

“For an average family, that would mean shelling out £350 in holiday taxes for a trip to France or Spain before taking into account flights, accommodation and other costs. It could price people out of the holiday market altogether.”

I want us in five years’ time to look like an alternative party of government – and an attractive one at that. RUTH DAVIDSON