Ruth Davidson

The tactical vote to beat the SNP in Aberdeen South is Scottish Conservative. A split vote only helps the SNP hold this seat. On Thursday 18th June, back the candidate who can stop them.

@chrisdeerin And he deserves credit for that. But if we are treating him as an honest narrator, the actual narrative is terrible.

Pat McFadden comes out of everything really well

Last time Labour was in power it was the "I am afraid there is no money" note. Today's Mandelson release contains Pat McFadden stating: 'Every meeting I have is "who can we tax in order to pay benefits to others?"' It should serve as this Labour government's epitaph.

I was at that meeting. JC is sharing facts. Those attacking her need to ask themselves are they happy for our nation to be governed by dishonest shysters? Are they happy to turn a blind eye when someone raising serious concerns is vilified? Really?😳

@JimSpenceDundee I'm so sorry Jim. I'm some way down the journey with both of my parents and it strips so much. Dreadful disease. Love and strength. Xx

Spent Sunday evening at my big sister’s bedside as the priest gave her last rites, then from early morning to evening on Monday as she finally slipped away. Never been keen on the ‘it’s a blessing’ phrase, but watching her ravaged with late stage Alzheimers I now appreciate it.

EXC SNP funds embezzled by Peter Murrell included taxpayer money Sturgeon ex-husband had access to £2.2m+ over 12 years from grants from the UK-wide Electoral Commission Means bags, cars & jewellery and could have been bought with money from taxpayers, not just members

@fitalass @montie @ConHome I have disagreed with @montie many, many times down the years. But in both our favours, we have always disagreed agreeably. His challenge usually makes me think harder about my own position (often reinforcing it, but sometimes re-examining it). He makes a good point here.

@montie I am calling it @montie you keep backing the wrong horse & despite our differences going back over 20yrs from @Conhome early days when you backed David Davis vs Cameron & then Ruth Davidson's success proving you wrong in Scotland. You should have backed Kemi Badenoch not Farage..

Everyone in Reform needs to calm down. SEE BELOW ⬇️ Much more serious than various unwelcome news events of recent days (like Restore's 7%) has been the headless chicken reactions of some in the party. The party urgently needs more structure - structures within which political and policy challenges are first discussed together and everyone then signs up to what are the agreed next steps. Anyone who subsequently acts unilaterally outside of these structures should then be sacked. This is basic stuff and can't happen soon enough.

From Humza Yousaf’s @thecourieruk interview. Why was he shown the arrest warrant?

Douglas Lumsden is fantastic. He’s worked in the oil and gas sector, he led Aberdeen City Council, and he’s fought for the North East of Scotland as an MSP. Now, he's the only candidate who can fight off the SNP who are trying to break up the UK. Vote for Douglas on 18 June!

Further to Blair. Literally every honest sensible person in all the main parties privately agrees with all these propositions: - welfare spending is too high and is throwing good people on the scrapheap - defence spending is too low - the triple lock is unsustainable - without cheap energy we cannot exploit the AI revolution - we should be investing in EVERY form of energy: renewables, nuclear and the North Sea - migration needs to be controlled to boost social cohesion and because the boats look like a huge failure of the state - any new relationship with the EU will be imposed on us until we are stronger and cannot involve the closeness some desire without freedom of movement - we are deeply embedded with America in ways which the public does not understand and cannot be told and however joyous it makes us feel to hate Trump, disengagement at the deep state level is not only wholly unrealistic but also undesirable - Whitehall needs a total overhaul so specific project expertise and political appointees can be brought in quickly Blair basically says all that. The one thing he doesn’t say and which the same group of people agree on is this and it’s something Blair left behind: - judges and quangos have too much power, are unaccountable and without redressing the balance in favour of parliament it is very difficult to do anything big fast - the bare minimum that needs to change in this regard is to reform judicial review and planning law so we can put building and economic growth ahead of newts and NIMBYs None of that above really ought to be up for discussion. It is all common sense but not one of our politicians will publicly say all of it Whatever you think of Blair, engage with what he’s saying not how he makes you feel. The bare minimum we should expect from any leader is that they have an analysis of the current situation and a plan to deal with it which is as coherent and realistic as his intervention. Pretty well every critique I’ve read so far has failed to meet this requirement. Over to Andy and Keir and Kemi and Nigel and Zack and all the others

Tony Blair is right. You cannot claim growth is the mission while making energy dearer, hiring harder, welfare more expensive and businesses less confident. And you cannot prepare Britain for the future while ducking AI, defence, planning, tax and public service reform. The centre can be radical. The centre-right needs to own that space again, because Labour clearly cannot deliver it. bbc.co.uk/news/articles/…

They are just taking the piss now, aren't they?

Fantastic couple of days at the Hay Festival with the #ElectoralDysfunction team. A big thans to everyone who came along to our events. Not there? No need to miss out - listen to me, @HarrietHarman and @BethRigby every Friday wherever you get your podcasts. Pics: Sam Hardwick

@AdamMorrisEdin I am presuming I used at least two words...

@RuthDavidsonPC I don't think that was the word you used

Some of us were being mistaken for Sean Clerkin before it was cool.

When he resigned he said it was because he was being prevented from making the changes needed to bring down immigration. He is now claiming that he made the changes that brought down immigration. Both can’t be true.

In Edinburgh, we heard the same message from businesses, researchers, retailers and supporters. The UK has huge strengths, but too often we make it harder than it needs to be to grow. So how do we deliver? By listening beyond Westminster, working with people who understand the real economy, and turning practical ideas into a pro-growth agenda for the UK.

Great to join @RussellFindlay1 @Miles4Lothian @AJABurnett and the team out campaigning doe the Aberdeen South by-election. As the sign says, only @DLumsden_MSP can beat the SNP here. Vote @ScotTories on June 18th.

Since launching, thousands of people have signed up to support what we’re building. We’ve travelled across the UK, from Wales and Birmingham to London and now Scotland, bringing together businesses, supporters and people with ideas for how Britain can grow again. One thing keeps standing out: people from all political backgrounds are looking for something more serious, practical and hopeful from politics. Less noise. More solutions. More growth.