Columnist Andy Maciver imagines an alternative future which sees Ruth Davidson in Bute House not the House of Lords WHEN Ruth Davidson is elected as First Minister later today, it will be the culmination of a decade of political change so rapid and fundamental that its envisaging was next to impossible. The electorate is still dizzy; this month’s election was the tenth national election or referendum in ten years. However it is also the one which looks like ushering in a period of relative normality. For Ms Davidson, losing the Scottish Tory party’s leadership election to Murdo Fraser 10 years ago was both her defining moment and her route to Bute House. Mr Fraser’s narrow win in that controversial contest was a mandate for creating a new party – the Forward party Ms Davidson now leads into government – but it has itself evolved rapidly. The party was initially a direct replacement for the Scottish Tories, taking David Cameron’s whip at Westminster in a German CDU/C
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EDINBURGH, SCOTLAND - OCTOBER 15: First Minister of Scotland Alex Salmond and Prime Minister David Cameron sign a referendum agreement at St Andrew s House in Edinburgh on October 15, 2012 in Edinburgh, Scotland (Photo by Gordon Terris - Pool/Getty WHEN each of my daughters was born, I created an email address for them. Every so often throughout their lives, I email them with the intention of handing over the password when they fly the nest. I email them on their birthdays, or when they win something, or when we have a major family event, or even just when I manage to capture a photograph I think they might like to keep.