Ruth Davidson tells of desire to start family in interview

Ruth Davidson has said she is 'painfully aware' that time is moving on when it comes to her desire to have children.

Scottish Conservative party leader Ruth Davidson. Picture: PA

In a candid online interview, the Scottish Conservative leader has opened her heart about her wish to have a family with her fiance Jen Wilson.

Ms Davidson,38, has often spoken of the secure and loving family upbringing she enjoyed with her parents Douglas and Liz in Lundin Links, Fife.

As an ardent campaigner for equal marriage, the Tory leader argued that same sex couples should not be denied the recognition and stability that she saw in her parents’ relationship.

Her own thoughts on parenthood came to light when she was asked about her forthcoming wedding to Ms Wilson,35, an Irish marketing professional.

Their marriage was postponed when their pet spaniel was knocked over by a car – an accident that cost £10,000 in vet bills.

The couple are discussing dates.

“It will be a small, private wedding. I hope to at some point have kids. Although I am painfully aware that I am running out of time,” Ms Davidson told the Sun.

“But my partner is younger than me so there are options.”

Ms Davidson also discussed how she reconciled her sexuality with her Christian faith.

She said she did not realise she was gay until “probably quite late on”.

“I didn’t come out until my mid-twenties,” she said.

“There are times in your life when you feel closer to God and times when you feel further away. I found the period of coming out very difficult to align with my faith but I have found my way back to God.”

onfronted with the question that led to Theresa May admitting that she ran through fields of wheat as a child, Ms Davidson affected coyness.

“My mother would not like to see it in print,” she said, when asked what was the naughtiest thing she did as a child.

She then misquoted Bill Clinton when she said: “Let’s just say, I did inhale” - an admission that alluded to teenage experimentation with cannabis while she was at Buckhaven High School.

There were healhier youthful pursuits. And as the daughter of a former Partick Thistle footballer, she showed an interest in football becoming the first girl to play for her local Largo Boys’ Under-14s football team.

“I think I was a pretty mean centre-half because when you are 12 and you are a girl you are usually about a foot-and-a-half taller than all the boys of that age. I wasn’t very good but I was robust in a tackle.”

Moving on to the challenges posed to her colleagues in the UK Government by Brexit, Ms Davidson expressed dismay at the Westminster Cabinet splits, which have marked the process of withdrawing from the EU.

She described the “squabbles” as a “really unedifying spectacle” adding that she hoped Mrs May would still be Prime Minister at the next election.

“The rule should be to get behind the Prime Minister at this time of great national interest,” Ms Davidson said.

“A bit of sharp elbowing around the top table does not help anybody.”