Ruth Davidson is to step down as leader of the Scottish Conservatives, throwing into doubt the party’s revival in Scotland and deepening the political turmoil surrounding UK prime minister Boris Johnson’s decision to suspend parliament to fend off opposition to Brexit.
Colleagues said Ms Davidson, originally a fierce opponent of Brexit whose position had been made increasingly uncomfortable by Mr Johnson’s willingness to leave the EU without a deal, would announce her departure on Thursday morning.
Her spokesman said the timing of a decision on her future had nothing to do with Mr Johnson’s announcement on Wednesday of plans to prorogue parliament for five weeks.
But allies acknowledged that her well-publicised differences with the prime minister were a factor in the decision to step down after eight years as leader of the Scottish Tories, during which she brought them back from near irrelevance to the status of largest opposition party in the parliament at Holyrood.
“It’s much more about her personal life than politics, but obviously recent events haven’t helped,” said a Scottish Tory MP close to Ms Davidson.
Another Scottish Conservative insider said Ms Davidson, who in October became the first leader of a UK political party to give birth while in office, would remain as a member of the Scottish parliament.
Ms Davidson had returned from maternity leave only in April but had insisted she was enjoying the challenge of leading the Conservatives in Scotland while raising her son.
“She’s found being a mother much more challenging than she expected it to be,” said one Scottish Conservative colleague, though he acknowledged that the timing of the news was “unfortunate”.
At an appearance at the Edinburgh International Book Festival this month to discuss her recent book “Yes She Can”, Ms Davidson appeared to signal she was ready to work with Mr Johnson, whom she portrayed as a liar ahead of the 2016 Brexit referendum.
“I was taught in the [Territorial Army] that you salute the rank, not the person that wears it,” she said then.
Ms Davidson’s departure raises big doubts about the prospects for the Conservatives in Scotland, who had in recent elections relied heavily on her personal popularity to help detoxify what had become a widely unpopular political brand.
Conservative election leaflets for a Shetland by-election for the Scottish parliament this week, for example, portray the Tory contender as “Ruth Davidson’s candidate” with the party name in much smaller text.
Under Ms Davidson’s leadership, the Scottish Conservatives in 2017 increased the number of UK parliament seats they hold in Scotland from one to 13, a success that ensured the survival of the government of Theresa May.
However, Tory fortunes have more recently looked bleaker in Scotland, which voted by 62-38 per cent to remain in the EU in the 2016 referendum and where polls suggest Mr Johnson is deeply unpopular.
Ms Davidson has embraced Brexit and quickly set aside initial calls for the UK to remain in the EU single market, but she has continued to oppose leaving the bloc without a deal.
Political analysts say there is no obvious candidate to replace a leader who, as a lesbian former journalist and territorial army officer, had shaken the traditional image of Scottish Conservatives.
Mark Diffley, an expert on Scottish political polling, said Ms Davidson’s departure reflected a “growing chasm” between the Conservatives north and south of the Scottish border.
“While Davidson never won a national election, she has done a significant job of detoxifying the Tory brand in Scotland and enhancing their electoral performance,” Mr Diffley said.
“Above and beyond her electoral performance however, her drive, determination and enthusiasm have marked her out as a significant leader, one who the party will find difficult to replace,” he said.
Additional reporting by George Parker in London
