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Ruth Davidson

Ruth Davidson

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About

Ruth Davidson is a Scottish politician who served as leader of the Scottish Conservative Party from 2011 until 2019.

Throughout Ruth Davidson's leadership of the party, she managed to build resurgence for the Scottish Conservatives but subsequently also managed to lead the party to their worst ever defeat in an election.

Ruth was seen by some as a potential successor to Nicola Sturgeon as First Minister of Scotland or David Cameron as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, something which was later mocked by a considerable amount of people.

Electoral history

Ruth Davidson was elected leader of the Scottish Conservatives in the aftermath of the 2011 Scottish Parliament election, just months after she was elected as a Member of the Scottish Parliament on the list vote.

In the 2016 Scottish Parliament election, the Scottish Conservatives increased their seat share under Ruth Davidson and replaced Labour as the second largest party

In the 2017 UK general election, the Scottish Conservatives took 12 seats off the SNP and Ruth Davidson proclaimed that the SNP and any prospect of a second independence referendum 'was dead'.

In the 2019 European Parliament election, Ruth Davidson once again campaigned on the 'vote for the Scottish Conservatives to prevent a second independence referendum'. The campaign ultimately backfired with only 11.6% of the Scottish electorate voting for the Conservatives in Scotland.

"Team Ruth"

Team Ruth refers to a group of politicians from the Scottish Conservatives that were led under the leadership of Ruth Davidson.

The term "Team Ruth" originated after the 2017 UK general election campaign where Ruth Davidson used the term to refer to the candidates that were selected to represent the Scottish Conservatives in the House of Commons after the party gained 12 seats, mostly at the expense of the Scottish National Party (SNP).

Resignation

On August 28th, 2019, Ruth Davidson announced her resignation as leader of the party due to her commitment of being a new mother and because of tensions between her and Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Boris Johnson.

At the point of her resignation, she had lost confidence among Conservative members as a poll conducted by a group related to the Conservative Party rated her as the least popular Conservative politician.

Post-leadership

Despite resigning, Ruth Davidson continued to be a topic of discussion in Scottish politics.

Baroness Davidson

A few months after resigning, it was revealed that Ruth Davidson would take up a role in the House of Lords after the fifth Scottish Parliament term ended in 2021. This gained a significant amount of media attention and the news received backlash, mostly among pro-independence politicians and supporters who

On September 5th, 2020, an article was released onto Herald Scotland which stated that Ruth Davidson was "furious" at being called "Baroness Davidson". In light of this, many started to call her "Baroness Davidson" as a result. Nicola Sturgeon frequently brought it up at various First Minister's Questions sessions from 2020 to Ruth's last appearance at First Minister's Questions in March 2021.

Temporary return

When Douglas Ross was elected as leader of the Scottish Conservatives unopposed, on 5th August 2020, Ruth Davidson became leader of the party in the Scottish Parliament due to Douglas Ross being a Member of Parliament at the time.

Ruth the Messiah

Ruth the Messiah refers to a series of tweets and posts on social media which mocked the mainstream media's attempt to make Ruth Davidson look like a winner.

Some had said that Ruth Davidson was seen as a "political messiah" who claimed that she could beat the SNP and save the United Kingdom from Scottish independence.

Sit Down!

Sit Down! refers to a moment during a debate for Scottish independence in the Scottish Parliament where Ruth Davidson told First Minister of Scotland Nicola Sturgeon to sit down in response to her standing up when Ruth started attacking her.

This moment was, by some, an example of how Ruth Davidson could beat Nicola Sturgeon.

Next First Minister of Scotland

Due to the success Ruth Davidson had during the 2016 Scottish Parliament election and the 2017 United Kingdom general election, she claimed that she could beat the SNP and Nicola Sturgeon to become the First Minister of Scotland and be the leader of the party of government.

Scottish Conservative politicians such as Jackson Carlaw, Rachael Hamilton, Maurice Golden and Michelle Ballantyne claimed that Ruth Davidson would be the next First Minister of Scotland after the 2021 Scottish Parliament elections.

This is subsequently mocked by many on social media due to the context of her party winning seats at the two elections.

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