At last night’s Spectator Parliamentarian of the Year awards, Ruth Davidson was crowned parliamentarian of the year. Here is the acceptance speech she delivered:
Thank you. It’s so much nicer to be welcomed on stage by Michael today than the last time he did it, which was at a Scottish Conservative party conference in the Albert Halls in Stirling, where he introduced me as the new David Moyes of Scottish politics – which is true, and at the time was meant as a compliment – but football changes quickly, as well as politics.
Thank you very much for this award today. It is actually accepted on behalf of everybody who plies their trade outside of SW1. Because, believe it or not, if you go to Manchester or Cardiff or Edinburgh, and we hope in Stormont in the very near future, you will see that political debate is alive everywhere.
Now I know that it is usual at events like this for the risqué jokes to be part of the acceptance speech, and the last time I was advised by David Cameron do risqué jokes at a Westminster lobby lunch it ended very badly for me. I’m not going to do any tonight. Mostly because the tone of politics has changed, and it’s changed markedly in the last few days. And I believe will be continued in that vein for some time to come.
Just because we have a woman in No. 10, at the top to the tree in Plaid Cymru, in the Scottish Conservatives, in the SNP, in the DUP, doesn’t mean that sexism and misogyny are somehow resigned to the dustbin of history when it comes to politics. Nor, when we look at some of the house clearing that is going to be and needs to happen in the next few weeks, months, and years ahead, are we going to say that we didn’t need some pretty big shovels for the Augean stable. But this isn’t a lecture, and it’s not a spanking I’m giving anybody – because that would make the front of the Daily Mail.
The point today is, I truly believe, genuinely believe, that everywhere across the United Kingdom, in SW1 and outside it, being a representative is about public service. And we have to hold ourselves to a higher standard. And we do that by our own conduct, the conduct in which we run our offices, as well as the conduct with which we run the offices of state.
So, it’s been a wonderful awards ceremony in slightly odd circumstances. But the house-clearing that’s about to happen needs to happen. And we can never go back to where we were before. That’s the future.
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