Journalist, author, broadcaster and politician, Ruth Davidson led the Scottish Conservatives from 2011-2019. Believing hard politics should always be leavened with a bit of warmth and humour, Ruth is as at home being grilled on Newsnight as showing her culinary shortcomings in the Bake Off tent.

First elected at 32, Ruth was the youngest political leader in the UK and the first openly gay leader of any major British party. During her time at the helm, Ruth returned the most Conservative MSPs in the history of devolution and the most Conservative MPs from Scotland in nearly 40 years. She also took to the stage at the Wembley Arena and the Glasgow Hydro to take on Boris Johnson and Nicola Sturgeon in stadium debates for the Brexit and Scottish independence referendums. She has previously been named one of Time Magazine’s 100 people of influence.

Now sitting in the House of Lords, Ruth combines her political work with presenting a weekly radio programme on Times Radio along with analysis and punditry for a range of newspapers and television programmes. Her book, ‘Yes She Can: Why Women Own the Future’ was published in 2018 and named in the Guardian’s Political Books of the Year.

 Photograph: Chris McAndrew