Ruth Davidson
Encyclopedia
Ruth Davidson is a politician, former BBC
journalist and the current leader of the Scottish Conservative & Unionist Party. She was elected as a Member of the Scottish Parliament
for the Glasgow region
in the May 2011 election
and was elected as party leader
of the Scottish Conservatives, succeeding Annabel Goldie
, on 4 November 2011.
in Edinburgh and was raised in Selkirk, Scottish Borders and later in Fife
. Davidson has lived in Glasgow for most of her adult life.
Her family lived in Bridgelands Road, Selkirk and Davidson attended Knowepark Primary School until primary three. Her father Douglas Davidson who was a mill manager at Laidlaw & Fairgrieve, had played professional football for Partick Thistle F.C.
in his younger days and was a midfielder in Selkirk F.C.
during the late 70s and early 80s. The family left the Borders for Fife when her father took a job in the whisky industry and where she attended Buckhaven High School
.
She went on to study English literature
at the University of Edinburgh
gaining an MA.
followed by Real Radio
and finally joined BBC Scotland
in 2002 where she worked as a radio journalist, producer, presenter and reporter. She left the BBC in 2009 to study International Development
at Glasgow University.
Davidson served as a Signaller
in the Territorial Army
for three years from 2003-2006, before suffering a back injury in a training exercise at Sandhurst
. She has also previously worked as a Sunday school
teacher.
and counts dog walking
, hillwalking
and kickboxing
as her hobbies. She is a lesbian
, and currently lives in Partick
, West End of Glasgow and Edinburgh with her partner Saskia Halcrow, a RBS
analyst, vegetarian and Green Party
voter.
. She said she was inspired by David Cameron
's call, in the wake of the United Kingdom parliamentary expenses scandal
, for people who had never been political before to get involved.
She was encouraged by the Scottish Conservative Party's Director of Media Ramsay Jones to join the party and stand for the Westminster
constituency of Glasgow North East
at the 2009 by-election
, which was triggered by the resignation of Labour MP and Speaker of the House, Michael Martin
. She came third with 5.2% of the vote.
She tried again unsuccessfully in the same seat
at the 2010 general election, coming fourth with 5.3% of the vote.
. She played a large part in the organisation of campaign media events at the 2010 UK general election.
and was initially placed only second on the Conservative's Glasgow region
list, behind Malcolm Macaskill, a Glasgow businessman and party member for over 30 years. This almost certainly have meant that Davidson would not have been able to be elected to the Scottish Parliament due to the low poll ratings of the Conservatives in the Glasgow area.
However with only a couple of months to go, newspaper stories appeared in March 2011 that questioned Macaskill's financial dealings. It was revealed that Macaskill who had been twice-bankrupt and was taken to court over unpaid income tax, failed to fully disclose his business career on his CV to party members ahead of a 2010 internal party selection contest. The Party chairman Andrew Fulton
then decided that Macaskill was to be deselected, thereby promoting Davidson to the first position in the Glasgow regional list.
Subsequently Davidson, although coming a distant fourth in Glasgow Kelvin
, was elected to the Scottish Parliament on the Glasgow region list
. After the election, she was appointed by Goldie as the Conservative spokesperson for Culture, Europe and External Relations.
as Scottish Conservative leader on 9 May 2011, Davidson became a contender in the leadership election
. Her rivals later claimed that Davidson received assistance from Party headquarters, though her supporters stated that these claims were part of a smear campaign.
On 11 September 2011, Davidson sacked her election agent and parliamentary assistant Ross McFarlane after a newspaper unearthed camera footage of McFarlane drunkenly trying to burn a European Union flag while making anti-Catholic sectarian remarks in a Glasgow street in November 2010.
On 5 October 2011, the Scottish Conservative media director Ramsay Jones was suspended from his duties during the leadership contest, after it was revealed that he had met Davidson and her campaign team in her flat on Sunday, September 18.
Davidson subsequently won the leadership election
and was made the leader of the Scottish Conservatives on 4 November 2011. She gained 2,278 first preference votes out of the 5,676 votes cast, after second preference votes were counted, she won by 2,983 votes to second-placed Murdo Fraser
's 2,417.
Davidson's notable campaign endorsements included two MSPs: John Lamont
(her campaign manager) and John Scott
; the Conservative's only Scottish MP and Scotland Office Minister David Mundell
; party grandees, Sir Albert McQuarrie
, former Chairman of the UK Conservative party
Marquess of Lothian Michael Ancram
, former Scottish Office Minister and Scottish party chairman Lord Sanderson
, former Secretary of State for Scotland Lord Forsyth
, Leader of the House of Lords Lord Strathclyde
; and former MSP and Holyrood deputy presiding officer Murray Tosh
.
Despite being a List MSP for Glasgow, she failed to gain the endorsement of a single chairperson of any of the five Conservative Constituency Associations in Glasgow.
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
journalist and the current leader of the Scottish Conservative & Unionist Party. She was elected as a Member of the Scottish Parliament
Member of the Scottish Parliament
Member of the Scottish Parliament is the title given to any one of the 129 individuals elected to serve in the Scottish Parliament.-Methods of Election:MSPs are elected in one of two ways:...
for the Glasgow region
Glasgow (Scottish Parliament electoral region)
Glasgow is one of the eight electoral regions of the Scottish Parliament , which were created in 1999. Nine of the parliament's 73 first past the post constituencies are sub-divisions of the region and it elects seven of the 56 additional-member Members of the Scottish Parliament...
in the May 2011 election
Scottish Parliament election, 2011
The 2011 Scottish Parliament general election was held on Thursday, 5 May 2011 to elect 129 members to the Scottish Parliament.The election delivered the first majority government since the opening of Holyrood, a remarkable feat as the mixed member proportional representation system is used to...
and was elected as party leader
Scottish Conservative Party leadership election, 2011
The 2011 Scottish Conservative Party leadership election was an internal party election to elect a new leader of the Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party, the third largest political party in the devolved Scottish Parliament. Ruth Davidson was declared the winner of the contest on November 4,...
of the Scottish Conservatives, succeeding Annabel Goldie
Annabel Goldie
Annabel MacNicoll Goldie is a Scottish Conservative Member of the Scottish Parliament for the West of Scotland Region. She was the Leader of the Scottish Conservative Party in the Scottish Parliament from 2005 until 2011....
, on 4 November 2011.
Background
Davidson was born at the Simpson Memorial Maternity PavilionSimpson Memorial Maternity Pavilion
The Simpson Memorial Maternity Hospital was the first purpose built maternity hospital in Edinburgh named after James Young Simpson Later, his name was perpetuated in the Simpson Memorial Maternity Pavilion was incorporated into the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary and is now located at the new Edinburgh...
in Edinburgh and was raised in Selkirk, Scottish Borders and later in Fife
Fife
Fife is a council area and former county of Scotland. It is situated between the Firth of Tay and the Firth of Forth, with inland boundaries to Perth and Kinross and Clackmannanshire...
. Davidson has lived in Glasgow for most of her adult life.
Her family lived in Bridgelands Road, Selkirk and Davidson attended Knowepark Primary School until primary three. Her father Douglas Davidson who was a mill manager at Laidlaw & Fairgrieve, had played professional football for Partick Thistle F.C.
Partick Thistle F.C.
Partick Thistle Football Club are a professional association football club from Glasgow. Despite their name, the club are based in the Maryhill area of the city, and have not played in Partick since 1908...
in his younger days and was a midfielder in Selkirk F.C.
Selkirk F.C.
Selkirk Football Club are a Scottish football club based in the town of Selkirk. They are members of the East of Scotland Football League and currently play in the Premier Division.Their ground is Yarrow Park, Selkirk TD7 5AZ- History :...
during the late 70s and early 80s. The family left the Borders for Fife when her father took a job in the whisky industry and where she attended Buckhaven High School
Buckhaven High School
Buckhaven High School is a six year co-educational non-denominational comprehensive school with a current roll of 1226. In the past Buckhaven was the Levenmouth's high school for pupils that were able to pass their eleven plus exam...
.
She went on to study English literature
English literature
English literature is the literature written in the English language, including literature composed in English by writers not necessarily from England; for example, Robert Burns was Scottish, James Joyce was Irish, Joseph Conrad was Polish, Dylan Thomas was Welsh, Edgar Allan Poe was American, J....
at the University of Edinburgh
University of Edinburgh
The University of Edinburgh, founded in 1583, is a public research university located in Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland, and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The university is deeply embedded in the fabric of the city, with many of the buildings in the historic Old Town belonging to the university...
gaining an MA.
Early career
After graduatiion, she joined the Glenrothes Gazette as a trainee reporter. She later moved to Kingdom FMKingdom FM
Kingdom FM is the dedicated Adult Contemporary radio station for Fife, Scotland. Kingdom FM broadcasts from its studios in Markinch on five frequencies across Fife, 95.2fm in West Fife, 96.1 in Central Fife, 105.4fm in St Andrews, 106.3fm in the East Neuk and 96.6fm in Kirkcaldy and on the web from...
followed by Real Radio
Real Radio
Real Radio is a network of adult contemporary independent local radio stations in England, Scotland and Wales and is operated by . Each station broadcasts local breakfast through to drive time shows and network programming in the evening and through the night...
and finally joined BBC Scotland
BBC Scotland
BBC Scotland is a constituent part of the British Broadcasting Corporation, the publicly-funded broadcaster of the United Kingdom. It is, in effect, the national broadcaster for Scotland, having a considerable amount of autonomy from the BBC's London headquarters, and is run by the BBC Trust, who...
in 2002 where she worked as a radio journalist, producer, presenter and reporter. She left the BBC in 2009 to study International Development
International development
International development or global development is a concept that lacks a universally accepted definition, but it is most used in a holistic and multi-disciplinary context of human development — the development of greater quality of life for humans...
at Glasgow University.
Davidson served as a Signaller
Signaller
In the armed forces, a signaller or signaleer is a specialist soldier or seaman or airman responsible for military communications. Signallers, aka Combat Signallers or signalmen or women, are commonly employed as radio or telephone operators, relaying messages for field commanders at the front line...
in the Territorial Army
Territorial Army
The Territorial Army is the part time volunteer force of the British Army. With around 35,500 members, the TA forms about a quarter of the overall manpower strength of the British Army. TA members regularly volunteer to serve overseas on operations, either with TA units, or as individuals...
for three years from 2003-2006, before suffering a back injury in a training exercise at Sandhurst
Royal Military Academy Sandhurst
The Royal Military Academy Sandhurst , commonly known simply as Sandhurst, is a British Army officer initial training centre located in Sandhurst, Berkshire, England...
. She has also previously worked as a Sunday school
Sunday school
Sunday school is the generic name for many different types of religious education pursued on Sundays by various denominations.-England:The first Sunday school may have been opened in 1751 in St. Mary's Church, Nottingham. Another early start was made by Hannah Ball, a native of High Wycombe in...
teacher.
Personal life
She is a member of the Church of ScotlandChurch of Scotland
The Church of Scotland, known informally by its Scots language name, the Kirk, is a Presbyterian church, decisively shaped by the Scottish Reformation....
and counts dog walking
Dog walking
Dog walking is both a pastime and a profession involving the act of a person walking with a dog, typically from the dog's residence and then returning. This constitutes part of the daily exercise regime needed to keep a dog healthy...
, hillwalking
Hillwalking
In the British Isles, the terms hillwalking or fellwalking are commonly used to describe the recreational outdoor activity of walking on hills and mountains, often with the intention of visiting their summits...
and kickboxing
Kickboxing
Kickboxing refers to a group of martial arts and stand-up combat sports based on kicking and punching, historically developed from karate, Muay Thai and western boxing....
as her hobbies. She is a lesbian
Lesbian
Lesbian is a term most widely used in the English language to describe sexual and romantic desire between females. The word may be used as a noun, to refer to women who identify themselves or who are characterized by others as having the primary attribute of female homosexuality, or as an...
, and currently lives in Partick
Partick
Partick is an area of Glasgow on the north bank of the River Clyde, just across from Govan. To the west lies Whiteinch. Partick was a Police burgh from 1852 until 1912 when it was incorporated into the city.-History:...
, West End of Glasgow and Edinburgh with her partner Saskia Halcrow, a RBS
Royal Bank of Scotland
The Royal Bank of Scotland Group is a British banking and insurance holding company in which the UK Government holds an 84% stake. This stake is held and managed through UK Financial Investments Limited, whose voting rights are limited to 75% in order for the bank to retain its listing on the...
analyst, vegetarian and Green Party
Scottish Green Party
The Scottish Green Party is a green party in Scotland. It has two MSPs in the devolved Scottish Parliament, Alison Johnstone, representing Lothian, and Patrick Harvie, for Glasgow.-Organisation:...
voter.
Westminster elections
In 2009 after having left the BBC to study at Glasgow University, Davidson joined the Conservative PartyConservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
. She said she was inspired by David Cameron
David Cameron
David William Donald Cameron is the current Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, First Lord of the Treasury, Minister for the Civil Service and Leader of the Conservative Party. Cameron represents Witney as its Member of Parliament ....
's call, in the wake of the United Kingdom parliamentary expenses scandal
United Kingdom Parliamentary expenses scandal
The United Kingdom parliamentary expenses scandal was a major political scandal triggered by the leak and subsequent publication by the Telegraph Group in 2009 of expense claims made by members of the United Kingdom Parliament over several years...
, for people who had never been political before to get involved.
She was encouraged by the Scottish Conservative Party's Director of Media Ramsay Jones to join the party and stand for the Westminster
Parliament of the United Kingdom
The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body in the United Kingdom, British Crown dependencies and British overseas territories, located in London...
constituency of Glasgow North East
Glasgow North East (UK Parliament constituency)
Glasgow North East is a burgh constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom . It was first contested at the 2005 general election...
at the 2009 by-election
Glasgow North East by-election, 2009
The 2009 Glasgow North East by-election was a by-election for the Parliament of the United Kingdom's House of Commons constituency of Glasgow North East. The by-election was held on 12 November 2009 following the resignation of Michael Martin as an MP and as Speaker of the British House of Commons...
, which was triggered by the resignation of Labour MP and Speaker of the House, Michael Martin
Michael Martin (politician)
Michael John Martin, Baron Martin of Springburn, PC is a British politician, who was the Member of Parliament for Glasgow Springburn from 1979 to 2005, and then for Glasgow North East until 2009...
. She came third with 5.2% of the vote.
She tried again unsuccessfully in the same seat
Glasgow North East (UK Parliament constituency)
Glasgow North East is a burgh constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom . It was first contested at the 2005 general election...
at the 2010 general election, coming fourth with 5.3% of the vote.
Aide to Annabel Goldie
From early 2010 to March 2011 she worked as the head of the private office of the then Scottish Conservative leader Annabel GoldieAnnabel Goldie
Annabel MacNicoll Goldie is a Scottish Conservative Member of the Scottish Parliament for the West of Scotland Region. She was the Leader of the Scottish Conservative Party in the Scottish Parliament from 2005 until 2011....
. She played a large part in the organisation of campaign media events at the 2010 UK general election.
Scottish Parliament
For the 2011 Scottish parliament election, Davidson was selected in September 2010 to contest the Glasgow Kelvin constituencyGlasgow Kelvin (Scottish Parliament constituency)
Glasgow Kelvin is a constituency of the Scottish Parliament . It elects one Member of the Scottish Parliament by the plurality method of election...
and was initially placed only second on the Conservative's Glasgow region
Glasgow (Scottish Parliament electoral region)
Glasgow is one of the eight electoral regions of the Scottish Parliament , which were created in 1999. Nine of the parliament's 73 first past the post constituencies are sub-divisions of the region and it elects seven of the 56 additional-member Members of the Scottish Parliament...
list, behind Malcolm Macaskill, a Glasgow businessman and party member for over 30 years. This almost certainly have meant that Davidson would not have been able to be elected to the Scottish Parliament due to the low poll ratings of the Conservatives in the Glasgow area.
However with only a couple of months to go, newspaper stories appeared in March 2011 that questioned Macaskill's financial dealings. It was revealed that Macaskill who had been twice-bankrupt and was taken to court over unpaid income tax, failed to fully disclose his business career on his CV to party members ahead of a 2010 internal party selection contest. The Party chairman Andrew Fulton
Andrew Fulton (Party chairman)
Robert Andrew Fulton was appointed chairman of the Scottish Conservative Party in February 2008.Fulton was previously a member of HM Diplomatic Service from 1968-1999 with postings in Saigon, Rome, East Berlin, Oslo and the UK mission to the UN in New York and finally Washington DC.In 2006 Fulton...
then decided that Macaskill was to be deselected, thereby promoting Davidson to the first position in the Glasgow regional list.
Subsequently Davidson, although coming a distant fourth in Glasgow Kelvin
Glasgow Kelvin (Scottish Parliament constituency)
Glasgow Kelvin is a constituency of the Scottish Parliament . It elects one Member of the Scottish Parliament by the plurality method of election...
, was elected to the Scottish Parliament on the Glasgow region list
Glasgow (Scottish Parliament electoral region)
Glasgow is one of the eight electoral regions of the Scottish Parliament , which were created in 1999. Nine of the parliament's 73 first past the post constituencies are sub-divisions of the region and it elects seven of the 56 additional-member Members of the Scottish Parliament...
. After the election, she was appointed by Goldie as the Conservative spokesperson for Culture, Europe and External Relations.
Leadership of the Scottish Conservative Party
Following the resignation of Annabel GoldieAnnabel Goldie
Annabel MacNicoll Goldie is a Scottish Conservative Member of the Scottish Parliament for the West of Scotland Region. She was the Leader of the Scottish Conservative Party in the Scottish Parliament from 2005 until 2011....
as Scottish Conservative leader on 9 May 2011, Davidson became a contender in the leadership election
Scottish Conservative Party leadership election, 2011
The 2011 Scottish Conservative Party leadership election was an internal party election to elect a new leader of the Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party, the third largest political party in the devolved Scottish Parliament. Ruth Davidson was declared the winner of the contest on November 4,...
. Her rivals later claimed that Davidson received assistance from Party headquarters, though her supporters stated that these claims were part of a smear campaign.
On 11 September 2011, Davidson sacked her election agent and parliamentary assistant Ross McFarlane after a newspaper unearthed camera footage of McFarlane drunkenly trying to burn a European Union flag while making anti-Catholic sectarian remarks in a Glasgow street in November 2010.
On 5 October 2011, the Scottish Conservative media director Ramsay Jones was suspended from his duties during the leadership contest, after it was revealed that he had met Davidson and her campaign team in her flat on Sunday, September 18.
Davidson subsequently won the leadership election
Scottish Conservative Party leadership election, 2011
The 2011 Scottish Conservative Party leadership election was an internal party election to elect a new leader of the Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party, the third largest political party in the devolved Scottish Parliament. Ruth Davidson was declared the winner of the contest on November 4,...
and was made the leader of the Scottish Conservatives on 4 November 2011. She gained 2,278 first preference votes out of the 5,676 votes cast, after second preference votes were counted, she won by 2,983 votes to second-placed Murdo Fraser
Murdo Fraser
Murdo Fraser is a Scottish politician and the current Deputy leader of the Scottish Conservative Party in the Scottish Parliament. He has been a Member of the Scottish Parliament for the Mid Scotland and Fife region since 2001....
's 2,417.
Davidson's notable campaign endorsements included two MSPs: John Lamont
John Lamont (Scottish politician)
John Lamont is a Scottish Conservative Party politician, and Member of the Scottish Parliament for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire. He won the predecessor constituency of Roxburgh and Berwickshire in May 2007 and won the newly constituted seat with an increased majority...
(her campaign manager) and John Scott
John Scott (Scottish politician)
John Scott is a Scottish farmer and politician, and is a Conservative Member of the Scottish Parliament for Ayr.Born in Girvan, he has been MSP for Ayr since winning it in a by-election in 2000. He was returned in the 2003 parliamentary election and again, with an increased majority, in the 2007...
; the Conservative's only Scottish MP and Scotland Office Minister David Mundell
David Mundell
David Gordon Mundell is a British Conservative politician and, since 2005, he has been the only Conservative Member of Parliament representing a Scottish Westminster constituency...
; party grandees, Sir Albert McQuarrie
Albert McQuarrie
Sir Albert McQuarrie is a British Conservative politician.McQuarrie was born in Greenock. He was educated at Greenock High School and the Royal College of Science and Technology, Glasgow...
, former Chairman of the UK Conservative party
Chairman of the Conservative Party
In the United Kingdom, the Chairman of the Conservative Party is responsible for running the party machine, overseeing Conservative Central Office. When the Conservatives are in power, the Chairman is usually a member of the Cabinet being given a sinecure position such as Minister without Portfolio...
Marquess of Lothian Michael Ancram
Michael Ancram
Michael Andrew Foster Jude Kerr, 13th Marquess of Lothian, PC, QC , known as Michael Ancram, is a United Kingdom Conservative Party politician. He is a member of the House of Lords, former Member of Parliament, and a former member of the Shadow Cabinet...
, former Scottish Office Minister and Scottish party chairman Lord Sanderson
Charles Sanderson, Baron Sanderson of Bowden
Russell Sanderson, Baron Sanderson of Bowden is a British Conservative Party politician and a life peer in the House of Lords....
, former Secretary of State for Scotland Lord Forsyth
Michael Forsyth, Baron Forsyth of Drumlean
Michael Bruce Forsyth, Baron Forsyth of Drumlean PC, Kt is a British financier and politician, who was the Member of Parliament for Stirling from 1983 to 1997 and served in the cabinet of John Major as Secretary of State for Scotland from 1995 to 1997...
, Leader of the House of Lords Lord Strathclyde
Thomas Galbraith, 2nd Baron Strathclyde
Thomas Galloway Dunlop du Roy de Blicquy Galbraith, 2nd Baron Strathclyde, PC , is a British politician. He is currently the Leader of the House of Lords and the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster as well as being the leader of the Conservative Party in the House of Lords...
; and former MSP and Holyrood deputy presiding officer Murray Tosh
Murray Tosh
Murray Tosh is a Scottish Conservative & Unionist politician, and former Member of the Scottish Parliament for the West of Scotland Region...
.
Despite being a List MSP for Glasgow, she failed to gain the endorsement of a single chairperson of any of the five Conservative Constituency Associations in Glasgow.
External links
- Official Ruth Davidson Website
- Scottish Parliament page
- Ruth Davidson articles at Holyrood.comHolyrood (magazine)Holyrood is a fortnightly current affairs and politics magazine.Created following the advent of devolution in the UK in 1999 the magazine provides coverage of the goings on at the Scottish Parliament, as well as interviews with leading political figures....