Tory health spokesman accused of heavy drinking and affair

DAVID Davidson, the Tories’ health spokesman, was fighting for his political career last night after he was forced to deny allegations of binge drinking and having an affair with an SNP MSP.

Mr Davidson was thrust into the spotlight yesterday when the News of the World alleged he had been drinking heavily at a Tory reception before heading home with Christine Grahame, an SNP MSP.

The newspaper claimed it was the third time in a week that Mr Davidson, who is 65 and married with five children, had stayed overnight in the same flat as Ms Grahame, who is 60 and divorced.

Mr Davidson was said to have been drinking for nearly five hours at the reception - despite warning about the dangers of teenage binge drinking in the Scottish Parliament on behalf of the Tory Party.

The MSP was at home near Stirling yesterday and would not comment on the allegations. He was also nursing a broken leg which happened on the same night as the Tory reception when he slipped on the Royal Mile cobbles.

However, he denied to the News of the World that his relationship with Ms Grahame was anything other than friendship. "It isn’t an affair, it’s a close friendship. We’ve been close friends for a while. That’s all I’m going to say."

And he added: "We slept in separate rooms. Obviously this has to be spoken about with my mother and, er, I mean, my wife." When he was asked if he had got drunk at the reception, he told the paper: "I hadn’t eaten ... I’m a diabetic ... I had a bad heel."

A spokesman for the Conservative Party would not comment on the relationship between Mr Davidson and Ms Grahame, insisting it was "a private matter".

But David McLetchie, the Scottish Conservative leader, was drawn into the row when it emerged that Mr Davidson had spoken out about the dangers of binge drinking in his capacity as health spokesman.

In September 2003, Mr Davidson said: "It’s a case of minimising the risks people take through alcohol - some highly risky sexual behaviour is often under the influence. It’s about moderation through knowledge."

Mr McLetchie was under pressure last night to state whether he still had faith in Mr Davidson as his health spokesman, but the Tory leader was unavailable for comment.

A Conservative source did speak up in Mr Davidson’s favour, suggesting the North East MSP had not spent as long in the reception as the News of the World claimed, and he had been there for less than three hours, not the "five-hour bender" claimed by the newspaper.

"This is just an allegation. He was not drinking from 6pm, for much of that time he was on [the BBC Radio Scotland programme] Politics Tonight, live," the source said.

Mr Davidson has suffered in the past from a lacklustre reputation. He always has been known as one of the more conscientious MSPs, but has never set the parliament alight with his rhetoric.

And while this latest brush with fame will certainly enliven his image at Holyrood, it will not do much for his party - particularly as any comments that Mr Davidson makes about drinking or alcohol in the future could be easily undermined with a single snide comment from his opponents.

Ms Grahame declined to say anything about the allegations yesterday. She said it was a private matter, and she would not comment on the personal matters of any MSP.

This view was reinforced by the SNP press office which said it would not comment on the issue.

However, it also emerged yesterday that Mr Davidson had been due to appear on BBC television’s Newsnight Scotland on the night of the Tory reception to talk about the Executive’s sexual health strategy, but he was replaced on the programme by a senior member of the Catholic Church.

He was heard at the reception bemoaning the BBC’s decision to replace him and he will now realise that, had the BBC stuck with him, he might not have ended up breaking his leg or needing the help of Ms Grahame to get himself home.

Mr Davidson was treated at an Edinburgh hospital for his injury on Friday last week, and now has his leg in plaster.