Ruth Davidson

And our members will know that we are ruthless this week in many ways.

We have no Ruth Davidson and we're going to give you some ruthless analysis of this budget as well.

But...

We haven't got Ruth, but we have got a special treat because we are joined by Gillian Keegan, friend of the pod, former education secretary and all round political legend.

All English people know so much about Scottish politics, perhaps less so about Irish and Welsh politics, because I just think there's something about Scottish politicians and your ability to tell stories.

You know, we mentioned a previous guest before we came on, Ruth Davidson.

who is really well known across UK politics as a former member of the Scottish Parliament, of course, and now elevated to the Lords.

And it would be remiss of us not to talk about Alex Salmond, who has sadly just passed away.

But he then twisted it around and said, well, actually, there's more room for independence parties.

And actually, there's still that 50-50 debate.

I mean, Ruth Davidson suggested to me that it will never go away, this debate.

Is this something that is in the daily discourse in politics in Scotland?

So good morning to you, Nick.

Yes, Prosper UK is a new political movement led by myself and Ruth Davidson.

And we're conservatives, very clear on that.

But it's from what you might call the middle ground, the pro-business ground of the Conservative Party.

Hello and welcome to Electoral Dysfunction with me, Beth Rigby.

Me, Ruth Davidson.

And me, Harriet Harman.

And I am feeling somewhat refreshed after my short trip up to the Makerfield constituency.

But there is a whole phalanx of Conservatives who are not happy with this.

the old fashioned green conservatives and the people in Prosper, people like Ruth Davidson and the former mayor of the West Midlands, Andy Street, who are saying, no, we're not actually with this.

And we think that there has to be some kind of sane line on climate and nature within the conservatives.

You know, frankly, if we're thinking about the long term future of British politics, it would be so much better if we had a conservative party that, again, was willing to think about things like, well, maybe it would be good to have a climate change act.

For starters, Ms Gilruth doesn't say what she means by far right, and refers to right-wing parties plural, so can we assume she doesn't just mean reform? The idea that the right wing is objecting to gay women in power is also laughable.

The right had women in leadership roles long before the left, Margaret Thatcher, and they had gay women in leadership roles long before the left too, Ruth Davidson.

In fact, I suspect the reaction most people have to Ms Gilruth as a gay woman in government isn't rage, it's indifference.

It is a non-issue, which was exactly the aim of the campaign for gay equality that achieved decriminalisation in 1981, introduced by a right-wing, far-right Tory government, and gay marriage in 2014, also introduced by the right-wing, far-right Tory government.

Do you have a problem with the below, Soph? Or is it only righties on GB News who you think should be taken off air by the off communists? And this hypocrisy, Rafe, stinks.

Because Ruth Davidson...

Another conservative politician has a show on Sly News, was also given one of these hosting slots.

So in reality, let's just be honest about it.

And you're right, Col, I think certainly even a few years ago, I imagine a good portion of Scots would be able to have an opinion on at least three of the party leaders in Scotland.

And the sort of height of that being the sort of Sturgeon, Kezia Dugdale, Ruth Davidson years, and perhaps you could throw Patrick Harvey and his waistcoats on the debates.

into that fold as well.

And of course, the inimitable Willie Rennie's trips to various farms or water parks around Scotland.

Hello and welcome to Electoral Dysfunction with me, Beth Rigby.

Me, Ruth Davidson.

And me, Harriet Harman.

And we have a very exciting episode today because we're joined by Liz Kendall.

Does this not show that the union is ungovernable? And maybe it's time to move on and look again at independence.

That's a good question.

Take it away, Ruth Davidson.

So when I was pre-reading this before

Just have a listen to this.

Almost a non, a non-poli- politician one, my absolute favorite was during an election campaign when Ruth Davidson was off doing, you know, a football event somewhere, and it was Sean Clarkin had turned up.

You know, the old Scottish resistance stunts were always fantastic, and he had turned up and was tearing up the Tory manifesto in front of them.

Um, and the security turned up and, and huckled out Adam Morris, who was the Tory's head of press, because somehow the protester was better dressed than he was.