Ruth refuses to rule out bid for Tory leadership
The Scottish Conservative leader fuelled speculation she could become a future Tory leader after refusing to look beyond the 2021 elections.
She would say only that she is leader of the party ‘right now’.
Senior sources say Miss Davidson believes that the next Holyrood election is a ‘three-horse race’ and that she can become First Minister.
However, it is understood she could contemplate a bid to fight a Westminster seat if the party fails to establish itself as an ‘alternative government’ in Scotland.
Asked on the Andrew Marr Show on the BBC yesterday if she would consider standing for the UK Parliament, she said: ‘Well look, I’ve got a job at the moment. I am not looking past 2021.
‘I’m trying to build a party that was third, in some cases fourth, when I became leader, to... be a credible government of Scotland. I’ve come a long way in that. I’ve got a long way still to go. I’ve built a really good team that I’m immensely proud of, so I know what my job is and this is my job right now. But you know I’m looking to 2021 and I’m not looking past it because there’s quite a few things in the in-tray right now.’
Senior figures in the party believe that Miss Davidson could be a future Prime Minister. She said yesterday that she ‘absolutely’ believes that a Scot can become Prime Minister again.
A YouGov poll of 1,135 adults published in Scotland at the weekend indicated that the Tories are on course to fall back to third place in the next Holyrood elections.
Responding to the figures, Miss Davidson said: ‘The same polls and the same commentators had us in third before the election last year where we beat the Labour Party at a canter.
‘None of them said that we were going to get 13 MPs this time just in June.’ She also launched a strongly worded attack on those who plotted to oust Theresa May after her conference speech last week, saying being a politician should ‘never be about private ambition’.
Miss Davidson added: ‘You’ve seen some quite unfortunate shenanigans this week in terms of a couple of people trying to push, but the push back has been pretty strong. We’re behind the Prime Minister – she’s the best person to lead us forward.’
She also pointed out that Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson has come out and backed Mrs May’s Florence speech on Brexit – and urged the Prime Minister to ‘hold him to that’.
The Scottish Tory leader also defended the controversial Universal Credit system – which replaces six benefits with a single payment – despite it being criticised by former PM John Major.
She said: ‘There had been a situation where you could have to wait up to six weeks for money if you find yourself in a situation where you first require Universal Credit. That’s been scrapped and it’s now going to be moved up to payment in advance to five days.
‘Now I think that will make a huge difference.’