RUTH Davidson is set to quit as the Tories’ leader in Scotland, senior sources revealed today.
Insiders said the Scottish Conservatives boss – who became a mum in October – is to stand down due to pressures of motherhood and because she’s “increasingly at odds” with Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
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A senior Tory source said: “Ruth’s been talking to senior party figures in the Conservatives for the last few weeks, both in Scotland and down south.
“She has been under huge pressure as a new mum.
“Nobody really fully understands how your life is going to change as a parent until it happens.
“Ruth is no different in this respect.
“She’s tried to juggle motherhood with being the very high-profile leader of the opposition in Scotland, and it’s taken its toll.
“All of this has been made more difficult with the current political climate, where she’s found herself at increasing odds with the new leadership in London.
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“The events unfolding at Westminster are not helped.”
A Scottish Conservative source said tonight: “Ruth will be making her position clear shortly.”
She’s expected to confirm the news in a statement in Edinburgh tomorrow, Sky News claimed.
Ms Davidson, 40, had been leader of the Scottish Conservatives since November 2011.
She was widely credited with turning around the party in Scotland, and was previously tipped as a future UK Tory leader – but ruled out the move last year, shortly before she gave birth to baby boy Finn in October, and Ms Davidson and partner Jen Wilson – Finn’s other mum – have been juggling childcare duties.
Another Tory source said: “There are two reasons she has been considering going – family and Boris.
“Ruth and Jen is under huge strain.
“And Ruth is in a real hole with Boris – she can’t defend him, it’s toxic and goes against so much of what she’s fought for.”
A third source said Ms Davidson’s refusal to back Mr Johnson – who she famously suggested was lying during the EU referendum campaign – had angered some senior Tories down south.
The insider said: “One figure at Westminster told me that it about time time ‘Ruth wound her neck in’.”
The bombshell revelation that Ms Davidson is poised to quit will send shockwaves across the party, after she was hailed as the saviour of the Tories north of the border.
The news will be a huge blow for Boris Johnson if he tries to call an election soon – because Ruth is so popular north of the border and secured huge support for them during the last vote.
At the 2016 Holyrood election, the Scottish Tories doubled their MSP seats to 31, replacing Labour as the main opposition to the SNP.
And at the 2017 General Election, Tory MPs in Scotland rose from one to 13.
And their vote share was 28.6 per cent – the best performance since 1983.
Ms Davidson had a close working relationship with David Cameron, and was closely consulted by Theresa May.
However, she backed Mr Johnson’s rival Jeremy Hunt in this year’s Tory leadership race.
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And after Mr Johnson won, she gave his appointment a lukewarm response, saying she would “judge his premiership by his actions in office”.
She said: “I’ve been perfectly open and honest with him – he wasn’t my choice for leader, I didn’t vote for him. However, I will judge his premiership by his actions in office, as will everybody across the country.
“There is no job like Prime Minister. There’s nothing that can prepare you for it. We’ll see what he makes of it, and he’s going to have to make a pretty good fist of it pretty early because of the challenges he’s facing.”
Relations were soured hours into Mr Johnson’s premiership when the PM axed Scottish Secretary David Mundell, despite Ms Davidson arguing behind the scenes he should stay.
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