I’ve just witnessed an extraordinary moment on the campaign trail in Edinburgh. No, it’s not this, but a political party leader talking to a real voter.
This is Ruth Davidson, Tory leader, talking to a random voter in Edinburgh. I know he was a random voter because I ran after him to check. You never know, after all.
He wanted to ask Davidson some questions about migrants drowning in the Mediterranean. So he wandered up to her and asked them. And she answered. What’s more, the answer seemed natural, he said.
Well, this is strange. Strange, at least, for this campaign.
The reason the Tories in Scotland are doing these sorts of street stalls is that they want to appear visible and accessible and, I suspect, because they’ve got a fantastic leader who doesn’t look like a stereotypical Conservative and who is a real asset to her party. It’s a pleasantly aggressive strategy that involves trusting that politician to say things that are persuasive rather than worrying she’ll say something stupid.
Of course, for the Scottish Tories, it’s reasonably easy to confound expectations when your overall brand is unpopular in Scotland. But you could use that unpopularity to argue it’s better not to risk standing about on the street in case people are mean to you. Instead, the party seems confident enough in itself to take the tougher option.
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