Ruth Davidson's Conservatives: The Scottish Tory Party, 2011-19

Examining the startling revival of the Scottish Conservative Party under Ruth Davidson's leadership
When Ruth Davidson was elected leader of the Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party in 2011, the party was considered something of a joke: in electoral decline for decades, politically irrelevant and apparently beyond the point of no return. But, by 2017 'Ruth Davidson's Conservatives' became Scotland's second party at Holyrood and Westminster, and Ruth was spoken of as a future leader of the UK Conservative Party, if not the next Scottish First Minister.
This book, which brings together leading academics and analysts, examines the extraordinary revival of the Scottish Conservative Party between 2011 and Ruth Davidson's shock resignation in 2019. Contributors look at the importance of gender and sexuality, the 2014 independence referendum, the Scottish media and the UK Conservative Party's 'territorial code', and the changing fortunes of the party and its leader, asking if it can be sustained amid the turbulence of two ongoing constitutional debates.
David Torrance is a constitutional specialist at the House of Commons Library. He completed a PhD in history and political science in 2017, before which he was a journalist and broadcaster for almost 20 years. He is the author or editor of more than a dozen books on Scottish politics.