Why Liz Truss gets my vote for party leader - Sue Webber

Ten days ago, my phone rang, number displayed but not saved in my contacts. “Hi, is that Sue? It’s Liz Truss. How are you?”

Conservative MSP Susan Webber

It’s not every day the Foreign Secretary rings MSPs, but of course she wasn’t seeking my views on Ukraine or Taiwan but seeking my support in her bid to become the next Conservative Party leader and our Prime Minister.

We had a relaxed conversation, a little small talk, but a lot on Scottish drug deaths and the education attainment gap, my two specialist areas, and also of her commitment to the Union which I never doubted anyway.

She didn’t have to call, but to take time out of a packed schedule balancing the leadership election with her ministerial responsibilities demonstrated her grasp of the soft relationship-building skills essential for good leadership.

It’s not that Rishi Sunak doesn’t have personal skills and I met him at the recent Edinburgh meeting when he spent over an hour with local activists, making sure he greeted as many as possible.

But listening to Liz in Perth on Tuesday convinced me she has the fresh approach and ability to connect which will be needed if the critical challenges we now face are to be tackled head on.

“We are not just neighbours, we are family,” she said. “And I will never ever let our family be split up.” This will ring true with many, and she spoke passionately about how most Scots expect both our governments to work together for the greater good of us all, to stop the rot in education, health and virtually every other Scottish public service for which the SNP is responsible.

And the biggest cheer of the night was when she made it clear she would support and protect the rights of women, surely one of the most divisive issues in Scotland today for which the First Minister shoulders most blame.

Liz Truss is all about unity and in reaffirming her offer of a cabinet post to Rishi Sunak, she demonstrated her understanding that for the country to be united so too must the Conservative Party come together on September 6 and deliver the policies needed to get the whole country through the looming recession and on to greater prosperity.

"I believe people should be valued on the basis of their character, on their talent and their hard work, not their external characteristics,” she said about identify politics, but she could just as well have been referring to her own approach to the task in hand.

We need someone who will restore the authority and trust in the office of Prime Minister, someone who will knock the Downing Street operation back into shape, someone who knows instinctively that high standards of conduct matter.

We also need someone who selects her team members only on merit, putting the right people in the right jobs because they have the right skills, not just on personal allegiance. Someone who thanks loyal backers but has the steel to tell them if their job is done.

And we need someone who is not just open to, but hungry for, new ideas, who is bold, courageous and will get things done. From what I’ve seen and heard, Liz Truss is that someone.

Sue Webber is a Scottish Conservative MSP for the Lothians