Andrew Bowie claims Nicola Sturgeon was 'outmanoeuvred' by UK Government

Andrew Bowie has claimed Nicola Sturgeon was “outmanoeuvred” by the UK Government after the First Minister stepped down.
Andrew Bowie claimed Nicola Sturgeon had been outmanoeuvred by Rishi Sunak and the UK Government.Andrew Bowie claimed Nicola Sturgeon had been outmanoeuvred by Rishi Sunak and the UK Government.
Andrew Bowie claimed Nicola Sturgeon had been outmanoeuvred by Rishi Sunak and the UK Government.

Speaking shortly after Ms Sturgeon announced her resignation, the West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine MP suggested her departure was “good” for the United Kingdom,

Mr Bowie also insisted the Tories had got their act together again, seven months on from writing an article entitled “I’m a Conservative MP, and I ask. Where’s the big idea? What’s the offer to the country?”.

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Now a minister for exports, he told Scotland on Sunday Ms Sturgeon was brought down by a range of issues, and had misjudged the public on Gender Recognition Reform, a bill that was blocked by the UK Government.

He said: “It’s good for the United Kingdom, and I think that Nicola Sturgeon was one of the foremost political operators of her times.

“An expert communicator, she was a great asset for the Scottish National Party.

“She deserves a lot of recognition for that and one has to recognise the extremely heavy toll holding a leadership position in Scottish politics can have during that tumultuous period on you and your loved ones.

“She ran out of road, the Scottish people by the polls are in agreement with the UK position on Gender Recognition Reform, her ploy to use the next election as a de facto referendum saw opposition within her own ranks and it’s quite clear there is trouble brewing in the SNP, it is not the well oiled machine it once was.”

Mr Bowie suggested her exit was a “combination of many things”, explaining “I think the GRR pushed her out the job, she didn’t realise the Scottish people were not with her, and she was outmaneuvered by the UK Government.

“I think that was the straw that broke the camels back.”

Discussing her legacy, the former Royal Navy officer questioned what Mr Sturgeon had actually achieved during her time in Government.

He said: “You have to look at her period as First Minister and you struggle to come up with anything concrete she has delivered or changed for the better.

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“Education, Scottish schools have fallen down the league tables in terms of performances on the basics, NHS waiting times are longer, the R100 scheme that she promised is years behind schedule, the named person legislation has been ditched as a policy, the gender recognition act has been stopped by the UK government and support for independence has gone backwards.”

Mr Bowie also insisted his party had changed, when asked about an article he wrote criticising a lack of ideas among the Conservatives last year.

Having resigned under Boris Johnson, he claimed the Tories were gripped by “a strange mix of complacency, entitlement, fear and exhaustion".

The 35-year-old claimed things were now changing, and after the last two Prime Ministers Rishi Sunak had “steadied the ship”.

He said: “Rishi came into office following what could only be described as a tumultuous year.

“We had the invasion of Ukraine, inflation through the roof,and the Liz Truss period in government, during which I joined Rishi Sunak’s campaign and argued against those ideas.

“The number one job of any Prime Minister is to steady the ship, secure the economy, get inflation down so we can invest in the future and take steps to improve the lives of people in this country.

“We are beginning to reap some of the rewards of that hard work that was undergone.

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“I think you are going to see in the budget some moves towards a more positive direction on policy. We are in a different situation now from when I wrote that article, I believe over the next couple of months we'll be coming up with ideas that will convince people to vote conservative.

“This is a Conservative Government for the 2020s to reach a whole new generation of conservative voters around the country.”

The latest YouGov polls show the Tories on 24 per cent, far behind Labour on 47 per cent, with Sir Keir Starmer enjoying an eight point lead on who voters think would make the best Prime Minister.Despite this, Mr Bowie was defiant and insisted “absolutely I believe we can win” the next general election.

He insisted: I’ve campaigned for the Scottish Tories since 2010, every election I was told I was wasting my time, we’d lose and every time we’ve proved them wrong.”

This included success for the Scottish Tories, who Mr Bowie claimed were in fine fettle.

He said: “Scottish Conservatives have always been underestimated. We are in a much better place now than we have been frankly in my entire life.

“I was ten when we lost all of our seats in Scotland. Until the age of 30 we had a grand total of one.

"We now have 30 MSPs, we are the opposition in Holyrood, we have six MPs. Do we want to have more, yes absolutely, but to say we are not performing, compared to our recent history we are knocking it out the park.”

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Speaking during recess, Mr Bowie explained he had little time to unwind due to having a six-month old baby girl, but revealed he likes to unwind with films.

He said: “I like to watch a good film now and again, and one of my favourite films is Hook by Steven Spielberg, it’s up there with ET, and Jaws, it’s a great film.

“It’s a story about forgotten youth, innocence, belief, faith and not needing evidence. It’s absolutely fantastic.

“Dustin Hoffman is a brilliant Hook, and Robin Williams is one of the best actors of the 20th century.

“Peter Pan is my favourite novel, there is something to be said for reminding yourself of the innocence of youth and what it means to be a child.

“I watched it literally two weeks ago, and honestly have watched it upwards of 20 times.”

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