Davidson hints at bid for UK party leadership if Tories are in opposition
FORMER Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson has hinted at a possible return to politics when the Tories are in opposition at Westminster – and suggested she could lead the party.
After standing down from her leadership role in August, citing Brexit and personal challenges following the birth of her son, Finn, she remains an MSP but has said she does not believe she will stand for re-election.
However, in an interview for The Sunday Telegraph’s Stella Magazine, she suggested she may re-enter the political world when the Conservatives are in opposition at Westminster, hinting she could make a bid to lead the UK party.
She said: “It may well be that my time in politics doesn’t come again until we’re in opposition. I’ve probably got more experience than anyone in the party on how to lead from opposition.
“If someone tapped on my door and asked me to help, I’d be there in a heartbeat.
“But at the moment, I’ve got four or five years when my son isn’t at school and that is not a time that I’m contemplating moving 450 miles away for the majority of the week. It’s just some things are more important than politics.”
In the wide-ranging interview, Ms Davidson also spoke about coming out to her family as gay and about the abuse she receives as a politician. “I’ve never really spoken about it because the relationship I have with my family [now] is not the same as the [one] I had with them at the time I came out. It’s to protect them,” she said.
She added that she had to learn to be “a bit of a streetfighter” in politics, saying she could receive up to 1,000 abusive tweets a day.