Fraser Nelson Fraser Nelson

Ruth Davidson: why I talk about being gay

The three most magnetic politicians at this year’s Tory party conference are the Prime Minister, the Foreign Secretary and the leader of the Scottish Conservative Party.  I never thought I’d write this sentence but Ruth Davidson’s rise has been quite extraordinary. She has been campaigning for three years now: the Scottish referendum, the general election and Brexit. Now she doesn’t have a big fight planned, but she does still have plenty of energy.

I just interviewed her during a fringe meeting to a packed room, and you could see the extent of her appeal. ‘The selfie queen’, quipped one Cabinet member earlier: she’s the type of politician that gets stopped by people who want their picture with her. Not all of Mrs May’s Cabinet have that effect on Tory activists. Like Boris Johnson, she makes Conservatives feel good about themselves.

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