Ruth on Brexit, independence & wedding plans

TORY LEADER ON HER FIVE YEARS IN CHARGE

BREXIT has shocked the country ... and thrown Ruth Davidson’s wedding plans off course.

The leader of the Scottish Tories popped the question to long-term girlfriend Jen Wilson in May, but the vote to leave the EU has“slightly held up” preparations for the big day.

“One casualty of Brexit has been my wedding planning,” she said.

“I had expected to be able to devote some of the summer to getting the guts of it done but the summer ended up being so busy with all of these meetings.”

The two Celts – Ms Davidson was born in Edinburgh and raised in Fife, while her fiancé is Irish – have settled one thing.

“We are going to get married in Scotland,” she said. “It is still a work in progress, but it is not a shotgun wedding, there’s no clock on this.”

The 37-year-old could be forgiven for feeling a tad overwhelmed.

Between Brexit, fighting the SNP’s fresh drive for independence and leading the Opposition in Holyrood, the one-time Sunday school teacher has a lot on her plate.

She is celebrating five years at the helm and, with the Tories’ best-ever Holyrood election result under her belt, has earned the right to boast.

“When I came in, in 2011, the party was in pretty poor shape,” she said. “I got a lot of flak when I became leader, being so young at 32 and so inexperienced. I had been an MSP for just three months.”

However, she took the bull by the horns, overhauling everything from campaigning and policy to finance and governance.

“It was all the unsexy stuff,” she said. “I was wearing 16 hats pretty much every day, but it was all really important to get us fit to fight future elections. It all came together in May.”

That is an understatement. The 2016 election saw her party leapfrog Labour into second place and Ruth is now one of the best- known political faces, tipped by some as a future Prime Minister.

“Now I feel like the old hand,” she said. “I feel like the mother hen who is really proud of all her little chicks.”

When asked about her colleagues inWestminster, however, the former TA signaller’s tone switches.

“I am the first leader of the party in Scotland, rather than leader of the MSP group, so I am in charge of everything,” she said. “I write my own policy and down south has nothing to do with it. I have never been frightened to go my own way.”

The Scottish Tory has indeed broken ranks to criticise the UK Government, over tax credit cuts and firms being asked to list foreign workers.

What does she think of Theresa May personally?

“I actually really like her,” she said. “She quite funny, very dry, but I’m not sure that comes across. It is a very self-deprecating humour.”

For obvious reasons, Ruth’s closest allies can be found in Holyrood. But that doesn’t mean they are fellow true Blues.

“That’s the unspoken thing about politics,” she said. “Behind all of the shouting in the Chamber, many of your best friends in politics are from other parties.

“You tend to form alliances with the group of people you came in the same intake as. You build friendships across party lines.”

So, would she go for a drink with “enemies” such as Nicola Sturgeon and Kezia Dugdale?

“I’m not saying we would go for pizza and beer but I’d like to think there is a healthy respect there,” she said. “I certainly respect them and would like to think they respect me.”

Unlike Nicola Sturgeon, who has made much of buying her fashion from Scottish designer Totty Rocks, Ms Davidson says she buys her outfits from the high street.

“I’ve never been much of a clothes horse,” she said. “I get my suits from the high street and some casual wear, particularly shoes, over the internet because it is cheaper.”

But she despairs at the media’s obsession over what women in politics wear.

“I’d like to think we are past that,” she said. “These are all women with a brain and I don’t think your capability in the job can be based on where you get your jacket from.

“At the UK Conservative Party conference, because there has been so much discussion of Theresa May’s shoes, one of the UK papers did a feature about male MP’s footwear and where they got them from – it was brilliant. It had little pictures of their feet and where they got their shoes.”

Her focus is on taking Nicola Sturgeon’s place as First Minister.

“That’s what politics is all about,” she said. “It’s not because I think Bute House is a step up from my two- bed newbuild but there are things I want to change in Scotland.”

She has five years to convince Scotland she deserves the job. In the meantime, she hopes to get a little more time to herself.

“I’d quite like to cook more fresh meals,” she said.

“I really enjoy cooking but, at the moment, my life does seem to be buying things in silver trays to whack in the oven while I do something

else.”

When I started I got a lot of flak for being so young and inexperienced

Now I feel like the mother hen who is really proud of all her little chicks

I get my suits from the high street, and I buy my shoes online because it’s cheaper

One casualty of Brexit has been my wedding. but we will get married in Scotland

Theresa May – I supported her and I actually really like her

The minority of people who support a second referendum is getting smaller every day

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