Ruth Davidson to stand as MSP in Edinburgh

SCOTTISH Conservative leader Ruth Davidson is to switch the Holyrood seat she is planning to contest in next year’s election from Glasgow to Edinburgh in a move she said would allow her to run the party’s nationwide campaign from the capital.

Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson will contest a seat in Edinburgh instead of her current seat in Glasgow at the next Holyrood elections. Picture: Jane Barlow

Ms Davidson was the only Conservative returned as a Glasgow list MSP at the Holyrood election in 2011 – just months before she was elected as the party leader north of the Border.

She said that standing in Edinburgh rather than Glasgow would also give the party a better chance of using her profile as leader to boost its representation in the Lothians where the Conservatives won two MSPs last time. Ms Davidson said: “I believe standing for election in Edinburgh will help us maximise our support so that, come May next year, we return the largest number of Scottish Conservatives to Holyrood ever.”