FORMER Scottish Tory leader Ruth Davidson has announced she will be part of a new podcast with Sky News’s political editor Beth Rigby and Labour MP Jess Phillips.
Davidson, who is now a member of the House of Lords, said that she was “ridiculously excited” to join the new show.
She served as the leader of the Scottish Conservatives from November 2011 to August 2019 before being succeeded by Douglas Ross.
In a post on Twitter/X, she said: “The world didn’t know it needed another political podcast to join the 852 already out there, but I am ridiculously excited for this.
“Me, @jessphillips and @SkyNews @BethRigby – running the rule over everything and everyone, every Friday from March 1.”
On the new show, Rigby said: “This is a huge political year as we gear up for what could be the most seismic UK election in a generation.
“But voters aren’t feeling it, with people across the country telling me politics isn’t working. Each week, across different issues, I’ll be asking why and looking for solutions through frank conversations with two of the most compelling, engaging and honest women who have worked in politics."
Davidson meanwhile added: "People hate it when politicians treat them like idiots – parroting a party line that nobody really believes.
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"We promise never to do that. Jess and I may often disagree, but we won’t do it simply for disagreement’s sake – and we’re just as likely to take our own side to task.
"This whole podcast is about showing what goes on behind the scenes, explaining how decisions get made and – hopefully – discussing how to make our politics better. It’s a three-woman campaign for less BS in SW1."
Phillips (below) has served as the MP for Birmingham Yardley since the 2015 General Election.
She previously quit the Labour frontbench over her party’s refusal to call for a ceasefire in Gaza.
Discussing the new podcast, she said: "“I spend a lot of the time on the doorstep and what I get back is that trust in politics is at an all-time low - they don’t believe we’ll deliver what we say, and I don’t blame them.
"We want to unpick that by taking listeners behind the curtain to talk about the disconnect and bring listeners lives’ back into this, but talking about the things that actually matter to them.”
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