Ruth Davidson and Boris Johnson have so much in common. Why the bad blood?

Boris Johnson and Ruth Davidson are two of my favourite Tory politicians: both energetic, eloquent, optimistic, pro-immigration and – in general – liberal conservatives. Both have proven track records of winnng voters in parts of the country that had been inhospitable to Tories. Both are advocates of conservatism for explicitly progressive reasons: but because it’s the best way of helping those who need help most. 

So I’ve never worked out why there seems to be a firth of bad blood between them. We saw it in the Brexit campaign: it seemed, as times, that the main reason Ruth joined the Wembley Brexit debate was the joy of giving Boris a kicking. The front page of today’s Times has her doing it again, rebuking him over the (tendentious-but-legitimate) use of £350 million-a-week figure for UK contributions to the EU. The headline, about her slapping him down, will make many a conservative sigh and ask: do these Tories have to fight each other? Don’t they realise it’s time to team up, and fight the other side?

Reading the full interview with Ruth Davidson, it’s clear that she didn’t set out to attack Boris.