Alex Massie Alex Massie

Hands off our Ruth

Scots say she won’t be free to rescue the Tories in London for another five years at least

At last, there is light in the north. The long Scottish Tory winter has finally ended, giving way to the freshest spring imaginable. Just ten days ago, leading Scottish Tories believed they might win half a dozen seats at the general election. Even on election night they struggled to accept the reality of what was happening. ‘Ayr? Really?’ But they did win Ayr. And Stirling. And Angus. And Gordon. And Moray.

This was emphatically not Theresa May’s victory. It was Ruth Davidson’s. Now, in the aftermath of this Ruthquake, a question arises: if Ruth can save the Scottish Tories, couldn’t she do something similar south of the border? Every newspaper has carried a version of this fantasy. It shows once again that there’s nothing so powerful as wishful thinking.

Although Jeremy Corbyn helped Labour to a better-than-expected result, this was not a contest between right and left in Scotland. It was, once again, nationalist vs unionist. ‘Politics is different here,’ says one senior Tory, ‘so we had to run our own campaign.’ Much to the fury of May’s advisors, the Scottish Tories dumped the UK party message. Would-be MPs were branded ‘Ruth Davidson’s candidate’, not Theresa May’s, and by the end of the election Scottish Tories feared that May’s less than strong and stable campaign risked costing the party seats in Scotland.

Tories pining for Davidson to leave Edinburgh for London forget that she has a considerable job still to do. Project Ruth is only half-complete; it ends, in her imagination at least, with her becoming first minister after the 2021 Holyrood elections. That was once such a laughably unlikely goal that even she did not think it possible; now it is merely improbable. Nevertheless, her elevated ambition shows the seriousness of the Tory revival in Scotland.

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