Analysis: She was funny and much-liked but just couldn't persuade people to vote Tory

Published on Monday 9 May 2011 19:07

QUITE simply, Annabel Goldie humanised the Scottish Conservatives. From the moment she took over from David McLetchie in late 2005 "Bella", as she was known, steadied the tartan Tory ship.

She had form; shortly before the 1997 general election, Goldie had performed a similar role following the resignation of Sir Michael Hirst as party chairman.

Yet hers is a mixed legacy. Although Goldie was undeniably popular, under her leadership, the strange death of unionist Scotland continued apace, shedding support at successive elections as the core Conservative vote died, didn't bother or defected. Perhaps Goldie acted as a buffer, ensuring the decline was not even deeper, however that is difficult to quantify.

But in politics, personality counts for a lot, and no-one could dispute that Goldie had that in spades. It was rare to encounter Annabel in the Garden Lobby of the Scottish Parliament, or leave her room following an interview, without a smile on your face. She was fun, mischievous and genuinely funny. Goldie was not a deep political thinker but then nor would she claim to be. Hers was an instinctive Conservativism of a slightly old-fashioned variety that has all but disappeared from most parts of Scotland.

Mrs Thatcher was her heroine and, like the Iron Lady, she genuinely liked the party she led. She was also the eternal optimist, forever telling colleagues that "more and more people are turning to us", even when polls and election results suggested otherwise. Her failure came in an apparent inability to turn her obvious sincerity and enthusiasm into much-needed new votes. A final but important point: I can think of no-one who dislikes Annabel Goldie, and that's no mean feat in the bear pit of Scottish politics.

• David Torrance is a journalist and political commentator.