Leadership Material?
The Observer carried two articles on Sunday which gave two differing assessments of Ruth Davidson's ability to help rescue UK Conservatives from the complete mess its leaders have made of things in the wake of the great EU referendum.
Andrew Rawnsley was far more sceptical of Ruth's ability to 'ride to the rescue' after reviving the Tories fortunes in Scotland, saying:
"Liberal Tories are yearning to get Ruth Davidson into the mix. The leader of the Scottish Tories is funny, a fighter and she can make Tory arguments in attractive ways. Her speech was a rare moment of fizz at a torpid conference. The biggest barrier to Ms Davidson getting to Number 10, I often hear it said, is that she sits in the wrong parliament. Actually, there are bigger ones. Her friends will agree that it is an interesting question whether Conservative members, the bulk of whom are Brexit-hungry English pensioners, are ready to be led by a kick-boxing lesbian from Scotland who was a passionate campaigner for Remain. She has done an impressive job reviving the Tories in Scotland, but she has never wielded any power. She is an effervescent opposition leader; she is utterly unproved as a leader in government."
Whereas his colleague Matthew d'Ancona seems positively persuaded of the Tories 'Scottish chieftain's' ability to make the political weather:
"Which brings me to Ruth Davidson. If there is to be a leadership contest (and there will be, sooner than you think), it would be ridiculous if this talented politician were not a contender. It was fascinating to watch Tory activists behold the party’s Scottish chieftain last week. What to make of this pugnacious, charismatic, hugely articulate, socially liberal, gay, vodka-drinking, kickboxing, pro-remain honorary army colonel?"
Read both articles in full via the following link to The Observer/Guardian.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/oct/08/theresa-may-tory-party-ruth-davidson
It’s too late for Theresa May to save herself. But she can still save her party
By Matthew d'Ancona - The Observer
The best the prime minister can do now is smooth the path to national power for Ruth Davidson – for a strong union and a sane Brexit
We have been here before, and so has Theresa May. I recall visiting her at the 2003 Conservative conference in her makeshift office at the Blackpool Winter Gardens. As Tory chair, she was obliged to insist that Iain Duncan Smith, the embattled party leader, was safe from the mischievous plotters, and would march on regardless. But her wan features told a different story.
Duncan Smith did indeed receive 17 standing ovations during his combative conference speech. But, 20 days later, his MPs sacked him in a vote of no confidence. His authority had simply been worn down by a series of resignations, plots and embarrassments. For months, the whips had kept his opponents at bay. But in the end even they turned – decisively so.
We have been here before, and so has Theresa May. I recall visiting her at the 2003 Conservative conference in her makeshift office at the Blackpool Winter Gardens. As Tory chair, she was obliged to insist that Iain Duncan Smith, the embattled party leader, was safe from the mischievous plotters, and would march on regardless. But her wan features told a different story.
Duncan Smith did indeed receive 17 standing ovations during his combative conference speech. But, 20 days later, his MPs sacked him in a vote of no confidence. His authority had simply been worn down by a series of resignations, plots and embarrassments. For months, the whips had kept his opponents at bay. But in the end even they turned – decisively so.
Theresa May suggests she is prepared to demote Boris Johnson
Usually there is a stop-go pattern to political rebellion: the plotters assert themselves, the loyalists circle the wagons, and order is notionally restored. Except that it isn’t, not really. Once the principal topic of conversation in a party becomes the fate of the leader, it is almost an axiom that he or she is doomed.
So the prime minister would be ill advised to draw much comfort from the decision of most senior Tories to rally round her this weekend and – at least publicly – to distance themselves from Grant Shapps, outed last week as a ringleader of the plot to depose her. Their support is entirely provisional, and in many cases spectacularly hypocritical.
Indeed, the rubbishing of Shapps in the past few days has been pathetic. Though his chairmanship of the party between 2012 and 2015 was not without controversy, he is an able politician who knows the Tory movement inside out. The leaden-footed campaign to present him as a marginal figure is ridiculous. Like Ed Vaizey – the MP for Wantage, who has also raised doubts about May’s leadership – Shapps is treating the voters like adults by saying explicitly what everyone knows his colleagues are muttering in private.
What little clout May retains depends almost entirely upon the power of patronage and the 109 paid ministerial posts at her disposal: hence the growing probability of a reshuffle and her pointed failure to rule out sacking or moving Boris Johnson, when asked by the Sunday Times about her plans for him. Certainly, the political battlefield would be lit up by phosphorus were she to punish the Lion of Uxbridge for his antics.
Yet whatever his fate, the fundamentals of May’s position will not change: the wound dealt by the Tories’ election performance is now deeply infected.
Two arguments are routinely advanced for the status quo. First, it is suggested that May must stay in place until the Brexit talks are concluded. The idiot logic of this claim is that the most important negotiations to face this country since the second world war require the smack of weak leadership.
Second, and just as ludicrously, it is said that May has no plausible successors. Whether or not you like or agree with any of them, it is idle to deny that Amber Rudd, David Davis and Philip Hammond, to name but three, have perfectly reasonable claims as potential candidates. Johnson has become a fabulously divisive figure, but won two mayoral elections in a Labour city. To be absolutely clear, I am simply saying that the old Tory slogan “There is no alternative” does not apply in this case.
Which brings me to Ruth Davidson. If there is to be a leadership contest (and there will be, sooner than you think), it would be ridiculous if this talented politician were not a contender. It was fascinating to watch Tory activists behold the party’s Scottish chieftain last week. What to make of this pugnacious, charismatic, hugely articulate, socially liberal, gay, vodka-drinking, kickboxing, pro-remain honorary army colonel?
As she delivered her barnstorming speech, one could see that the audience was both baffled and bewitched. Even the party’s traditionalists know she is something special, with a potential electoral reach far beyond the core Tory vote. They sense she is national leadership material, and that she scares Labour. They would like a closer look.
But how? She is, after all, a member of the Scottish parliament, with no official locus in the Westminster village. To adapt the metaphor made famous by Shimon Peres: “The good news is, there’s light at the end of the tunnel. The bad news is, there’s no tunnel.” To which the answer should be: build one. And here’s how.
