Description
Baroness Ruth Davidson of Lundin Links
Integrity, Ethics and Diversity – A Personal Perspective
Ruth Davidson is without doubt one of my favourite politicians – and indeed personalities. Why? Many reasons but perhaps the subject matter for the presentation provides much of the answer. In addition she is such a lovely person.
As you will recall Ruth Davidson was leader of the Scottish Conservatives from 2011 – 2018. It was largely down to her that in 2016 the Conservatives replaced the Labour Party as the second largest party in the Scottish Parliament. To put things in perspective, this resulted in the Scottish Conservatives returning their best Holyrood election results in the history of devolution, and in 2017 General election returning more MPs from Scotland than at any time in the previous 38 years. Many of us will also recall the regular ding dong battles she had with First Minister Nicola Sturgeon
Prior to politics, Ruth worked for the BBC in Scotland for 7 years and indeed also served as a signaller in the 32 Signal Regiment of the TA. Unfortunately, she broke her back doing her entry exams at Sandhurst which meant the end of a promising military career. The Army’s loss was politics gain.
In 2018 she ruled out running in a future leadership election saying she valued her mental health ‘too much’ and in August 2019 she stood down citing several political and personal reasons for her decision to resign as leader. She was highly critical of Boris Johnson on a number of occasions. Ruth entered the House of Lords in July 2021 as Baroness Davidson of Lundin Links and made her maiden speech in October 2021 supporting Baroness Meacher’s Assisted Dying Bill.
Her interests remain wide. On social issues she stated that she supports same-sex marriage but believes that religious institutions should not be forced to carry out the ceremonies should it conflict with their views.
Ruth and her partner Jen Wilson have been together for many years and to their delight, in October 2018, Ruth gave birth to their their son, Finn. She has spoken candidly about personal mental health issues over the years and how she has tackled matters.
Ruth is a member of the Church of Scotland and counts dog walking, hillwalking and kick boxing amongst her hobbies. She has been a panelist on ‘Have I Got News For You’, and is Honorary Colonel of 32nd Signal Regiment. In addition she presents a weekly programme on Times Radio, holds a number of non executive directorships and also runs her own media and management consultancy. She was also included in Time magazine’s 100 Most Influential People for 2018.
So, what better person could we invite to give us her thoughts on Integrity, Ethics and Diversity.
