THE trouble with Rory Stewart’s campaign to be the next leader of the Conservative Party is that he is doing it on a “pop-up” basis and you never know where and when he will appear.
The Hong Kong-born son of a Scottish diplomat, Stewart’s appearance on Question Time on Thursday night went smoothly enough, even if there were some sniggers about his appeal for “love” to heal a divided nation.
Up popped the Penrith MP to Edinburgh yesterday, and there was some snap and crackle as well as he met students of Edinburgh University and some of his Conservative and Unionist mates at Holyrood – he managed to spell it Hollyrood on Twitter – before taking to the streets of leafy Stockbridge where The National spoke to the crowd of people that didn’t know he was heading their way.
“Saw him on the telly last night,” said Jayne, who confessed to being 76. “Seems like a nice boy.”
Asif was less than bowled over: “He’ll be another one of those politicians that turn up like Lawrence of Arabia and then disappear.”
His friend Jim was even more dismissive: “Them Tory candidates? they should all be in the jail.”
The Old Etonian graduate of Oxford’s Twitter account became a hoot after his Holyrood gaffe – he has an excuse for the confusion because Hollywood megastar Brad Pitt once said he wanted to make a movie of the MP’s “interesting” early life in Afghanistan.
One tweet was clearly influenced by Stewart’s recent apology for smoking opium in Iran 15 years ago: “When was the last time you were in Edinburgh? Not much smack to be found where your (sic) going, try Pilton or Muirhouse.”
It didn’t really matter as Rory the Tory got his message over to the real targets of his visit – the media. Interestingly, Stewart did not absolutely rule out “allowing” another independence vote, but he warned referendums are “a recipe for uncertainty and division for decades”.
He said: “The one thing we’ve learned from these referenda is that they solve nothing, they’re deeply divisive.
“I would say that [the SNP’s] Alex Salmond and Nicola Sturgeon sat down and they said this was a once-in-a-generation vote, and I trusted them. What is the purpose of drawing a border between Scotland and England? I’m about overcoming division, I’m not about creating more divisions. I’m trying to bring people together.”
Asked directly whether he would allow another independence referendum under Section 30 powers, he said: “I would argue heart and soul against it because it would break my heart – I would have no country left.
“I’m a Scot who’s representing an English borders constituency. If the United Kingdom splits then what am I? What am I representing?
“I’m completely against it, but I’m not against it in a dictatorial fashion. I would reason against it, I would make the arguments against it.”
He gushed some guff about Scottish Tory leader Ruth Davidson being wonderful and added: “If I had a vision for the Conservative Party, it would be a Ruth Davidson party.”
Asked if he would call a snap General Election if he became Prime Minister, Stewart was emphatically against the idea.
“We’d be massacred,” he said. Well there’s some rare Tory insight.
Unlike his departing boss Theresa May, Stewart won’t suffer the curse of The National – she banned us from a press conference last year and look what happened to her.
No, Rory was happy to answer The National’s big question – England v Scotland in the Fifa Women’s World Cup next weekend, who will Rory be supporting?
Back came the definite answer from his spin doctor – Scotland as “he is Scottish, you know”. Aye, they’ll love that in England’s Toryshires.
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel