First Minister Nicola Sturgeon believes former Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson stepped down because she could no longer defend the Tories becoming a “wholly-owned subsidiary” of Nigel Farage and the Brexit Party.
Speaking exclusively to The Courier, the SNP leader said the Conservatives would suffer in December’s election because they have lost a leader with personality and was recognisable.
She also said the Tory party had become more “extreme”, pointing out the Brexit Party had decided not to run candidates in seats where Tories had won in 2017.
Ms Davidson stepped down in the summer, citing familial reasons. A well-known campaigner for remaining in the EU during the 2016 referendum, the former Scottish Tory leader had also disagreed with Prime Minister Boris Johnson on a number of issues and publically backed his contenders during the summer Westminster leadership campaign.
When asked if she missed Ruth Davidson as her opposite on the Scottish Conservative front-bench, Ms Sturgeon said: “I would not say that, at the end of the day you do not determine the opponents other parties put into leadership.
“I think the Tories will undoubtedly suffer from not having someone who was recognisable on the campaign trail and has personality – whether you like it or do not like it – the Tories will suffer .
“But frankly the Tories’ issues are much more deep-seated.
“I think the reason she is not in the job any more – obviously she had personal reasons for that – but much more fundamentally she could not defend what the Tories in Scotland have become which is effectively the Brexit Party.
“In the last few days, with Nigel Farage saying he won’t stand against Tory MPs, (the Tories) have become a much more extreme, wholly-owned subsidiary of Farage’s view of the world.”
The First Minister also said the current choice at Westminster, between Labour and the Tories, was the worst “in memory”, adding: “There is a basic mistrust with some Westminster politicians.
“Some people will seen a Westminster system which is utterly broken and feels very alien.
“I have spoken to a lot of people who voted for the Tories in 2017 who would readily say the party which has emerged in the last two years was not the Tory party they voted for.”
A spokesman for the Scottish Conservatives said: “Ruth has made clear now on a number of occasions what her reasons were for stepping down.
“Nicola Sturgeon throwing her own tuppence-worth in is nothing but a cynical electoral ploy.”
