Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson quits amid fury over Boris Johnson’s plan to suspend parliament

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• Ruth Davidson resigns as the Conservative party’s leader in Scotland.
• Davidson quit amid a growing backlash against Boris Johnson’s plan to suspend parliament.
• She cited both personal and political reasons for her departure.
• Davdison campaigned against Brexit and has repeatedly criticised the UK prime minister in the past.
• Davidson led the Conservative party’s recent surge in Scotland and helped Theresa May avoid losing the last general election.
• Visit Business Insider’s homepage for more stories.

Ruth Davidson has quit as the leader of the Scottish Conservatives.

Davidson announced her resignation on Thursday morning amid fury over Boris Johnson’s move to suspend Parliament.

She said she had decided to stand down primarily so she can spend more time with her family, and said the prospect of "spending hundreds of hours away from my home and family now fills me with me dread."

She added: "I fear that having tried to be a good leader over the years, I have proved a poor daughter, sister, partner and friend. The party and my work has always come first, often at the expense of commitments to loved ones. 

"The arrival of my son means I now make a different choice."

Davidson also cited change in the "wider political context" as a factor, and the "conflict I have felt over Brexit."

She campaigned to stay in the European Union and is strongly opposed to a no-deal Brexit.

Read more: Over a million people sign petition against Boris Johnson’s Brexit plan to suspend parliament as protests break out across the UK

In her letter to party’s chairman in Scotland, Davidson said "I hope and believe" she represented Scottish industries in the Brexit process amid the growing prospect of the UK leaving the EU without a deal. 

Her resignation comes just a day after Prime Minister Johnson triggered outrage by moving to suspend Parliament for five weeks, reducing the time Members of Parliament will have to potentially prevent a no-deal Brexit. 

Davidson, the Member of Scottish Parliament for Edinburgh Central, became Conservative leader in Scotland in 2011.

She oversaw the party’s recent surge north of the border, helping it win 12 House of Commons seats and its largest share of the vote since 1979 at the 2017 general election. Ex-Prime Minister Theresa May likely would have lost the last election without the success of Davidson’s Scottish Conservatives.

Here is Davidson’s resignation letter

 

Earlier in the day Lord Young quit as a Conservative government whip in the House of Lords, over the prime minister’s decision to suspend Parliament from early-September until mid-October.

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See Also:

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Source: Business Insider – feedback@businessinsider.com (Adam Bienkov)