On the spot: Annabel Goldie

Published on Sunday 24 June 2007 00:59

Who is your political hero, and why?

Margaret Denholm, Renfrewshire

Winston Churchill, because when the threat against freedom had never been greater, he showed judgment, shrewdness, leadership and courage - and all at an age when other people would have contemplated quiet retirement.

Do you accept that the Scottish people will never forgive you for the damage inflicted under Margaret Thatcher and John Major?

Stevie Harding, Glasgow

The political climate in Scotland has changed a lot since the days of Margaret Thatcher and John Major, when they had to chart a direction from the old economy of Scotland to the new. That direction was what gifted Gordon Brown his golden economic legacy. Many years later, we are standing up for everyone in Scotland.

Will the Conservatives play a constructive role when the Executive puts forward its plans for a fairer replacement for the council tax?

J K Richmond, Lochwinnoch

The SNP and Lib Dem proposal for a Local Income Tax is a tax on hard working families and couples who are already paying income tax. We want the Executive to introduce a 50% council tax discount for all pensioner households.

Can you guarantee that the Conservatives will not support a referendum on Scottish independence?

Alexander Lightfoot, Warwickshire

Our policy is to make devolution work, not to promote Alex Salmond's agenda. We believe in delivery, not divorce, which is why we have been pushing the SNP Executive for delivery on issues like school discipline, law and order, pensioner council tax discount and drug abuse, to mention a few. We do not support a referendum on Scottish independence.

Is it time for the Scottish Tories to cut the ties that bind you to the UK Conservatives?

Jane Moir, Edinburgh

I do not think many people will agree that David Cameron is abandoning core Tory principles. We work as a team and I want that team to be strengthened, not weakened.

You look remarkably like Tony Hadley, Spandau Ballet's singer. Are you related?

Donny Coutts, East Lothian

No.