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Ruth Davidson, the Scottish Conservative leader credited with turning around the party’s fortunes in Scotland, resigned and dealt a blow to Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s hopes of winning a general election should he end up having to fight one over Brexit.
She announced her decision in a letter to her party chairman published on her Twitter account. “Having led our party through seven national elections and two referenda, I know the efforts, hours and travel required to fight such campaigns successfully,” Davidson wrote. “The threat of spending hundreds of hours away from my home and family now fills me with dread.”
Former Prime Minister Theresa May’s government only held on after the 2017 election because of Davidson’s campaigning in Scotland. While the Conservatives lost seats in England and Wales, they went from having one seat in Scotland to 13, clipping the wings of the pro-independence Scottish nationalists and giving May just enough seats to stay in power.
While Johnson has repeatedly said he has no plans to fight an election, the crisis over Brexit may force him into one. On Wednesday, he moved to suspend Parliament in two weeks time and caused an uproar among lawmakers from all parties. His opponents are now plotting to stop him.
While said Davidson her decision was personal — she had her first child last year — her resignation letter offered no endorsement of Johnson, and acknowledged that Brexit had led to “conflict” for her. She has made no secret of her past differences with Johnson.
Davidson was seen as crucial to the Tories’ plans to hold together the U.K. in any future referendum on Scottish independence. Brexit has increased calls for a break away and First Minister Nicola Sturgeon is demanding another vote.
An assured media performer, Davidson managed to reach out beyond traditional Conservative voters to rebuild support for the party in Scotland.
Davidson opposed Johnson during the campaign for the Tory leadership and has criticized him since he became prime minister over his refusal to rule out a no-deal Brexit, and also for firing Scottish Secretary David Mundell and replacing him with an English — rather than Scottish — member of Parliament.
A leading advocate for staying in the EU in the 2016 referendum, she repeatedly clashed with Johnson in a TV debate days before the vote, accusing him of misleading voters. Scotland overwhelmingly voted to stay in the European Union in the Brexit referendum.
(Updates with Davidson letter from third paragraph.)
–With assistance from Jessica Shankleman.
To contact the reporters on this story: Robert Hutton in London at [email protected];Thomas Penny in London at [email protected]
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Tim Ross at [email protected], Rodney Jefferson
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