Ruth Davidson

The Right Honourable The Baroness Davidson of Lundin Links PC
Official portrait, 2016
Leader of the Conservative Party in the Scottish Parliament
In office 11 August 2020 – 5 May 2021
Leader	Douglas Ross
Preceded by	Jackson Carlaw
Succeeded by	Douglas Ross
Leader of the Scottish Conservative Party
In office 4 November 2011 – 29 August 2019
Deputy	Murdo Fraser Jackson Carlaw
UK party leader	David Cameron Theresa May Boris Johnson
Preceded by	Annabel Goldie
Succeeded by	Jackson Carlaw
Parliamentary offices Member of the House of Lords Lord Temporal Life peerage 20 July 2021 – present Member of the Scottish Parliament for Edinburgh Central In office 5 May 2016 – 5 May 2021 Preceded by Marco Biagi Succeeded by Angus Robertson Member of the Scottish Parliament for Glasgow In office 5 May 2011 – 5 May 2016
Personal details
Born	Ruth Elizabeth Davidson (1978-11-10) 10 November 1978 (age 45) Edinburgh, Scotland
Political party	Scottish Conservatives
Domestic partner	Jen Wilson
Children	1
Alma mater	University of Edinburgh University of Glasgow
Military service
Allegiance	United Kingdom
Branch/service	Territorial Army
Years of service	2003–2006
Rank	Signaller
Unit	32 Signal Regiment

Ruth Elizabeth Davidson, Baroness Davidson of Lundin Links, PC (born 10 November 1978), is a Scottish politician who served as Leader of the Scottish Conservative Party from 2011 to 2019 and Leader of the Scottish Conservative Party in the Scottish Parliament from 2020 to 2021. She served as a Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for Glasgow from 2011 to 2016 and for Edinburgh Central from 2016 to 2021.

Born in Edinburgh, Davidson was raised in Selkirk and later attended Buckhaven High School in Fife. After graduating from the University of Edinburgh, she worked as a BBC journalist and served in the Territorial Army as a signaller. After leaving the BBC in 2009 to study at the University of Glasgow, she joined the Conservative Party. At the 2011 Scottish Parliament election, Davidson was elected on the Glasgow regional list. Following party leader Annabel Goldie's resignation in May 2011, Davidson stood in the subsequent leadership election.

She won the contest and was declared party leader on 4 November 2011. In 2016, the Conservatives replaced the Labour Party as the second-largest party in the Scottish Parliament. Davidson resigned the leadership in August 2019, shortly after Boris Johnson became Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. She was succeeded by Jackson Carlaw who was replaced by Douglas Ross. After leading the party in Holyrood for several months, Davidson stood down at the 2021 Scottish Parliament election. In 2021, she was appointed a life peer in the House of Lords.

Davidson was generally considered a fairly successful leader, especially in 2016 and 2017. Ideologically, she is considered a centrist. She supported Scotland remaining part of the United Kingdom in the 2014 Scottish independence referendum. In the years after 2014, she continued to appeal to "No" voters in the referendum on that basis along with opposition to a second vote. She supported the UK remaining in the European Union in the 2016 EU membership referendum.