January 18, 2022

London, 18 January 2022: Ruth Davidson, one of the most influential and respected politicians of recent years, is joining Times Radio to present the Friday afternoon show (1-4pm) previously hosted by Giles Coren. Her first show will air on 18th February.

Ruth had a meteoric career in politics, joining the Scottish Parliament in 2011 and later that same year winning the election to become leader of the Scottish Conservatives. Under her leadership the Conservatives doubled their number of seats and replaced the Labour Party as the official opposition in the Scottish Parliament in the 2016 election. At the following year’s general election the party in Scotland returned its highest number of MPs in nearly 40 years.

Named by many pundits as a potential candidate for leadership of the British Conservative Party, she was quick to rule herself out of the running. She stood down from Holyrood at the 2021 election and has since entered the House of Lords as Baroness Davidson of Lundin Links. Among many other plaudits, she was named in the 2018 TIME 100 list of most internationally influential people. 

Before her political career, she worked as a journalist and broadcaster, presenting live shows for BBC Scotland.

Ruth said: “Times Radio is only 18 months old but has already established itself as a must-listen destination for politicians and voters of every hue. Its mantra of conversation not confrontation is an incredibly important one in our polarised times. I’m very excited about combining my two great loves, politics and live broadcasting, for a new show which will take a deep look at the big political issues of the week, as well as anticipating what the weekend has in store.”

Times Radio Programme Director, Tim Levell, said: “Ruth is well-known as one of the most liked and respected politicians of her generation. Now Times Radio listeners have a chance to hear what a great live radio broadcaster she is. Ruth will dive into politics, as they’d expect, but also culture, entertainment and sport – plus all the breaking news of the day.  Ruth’s take on the world is a perfect fit for Times Radio.”

Times Radio last year reported its debut RAJAR for the period between 28th June 2021 and 19th September 2021, with a weekly reach of 637k listeners, consuming almost 3.5m listening hours. Average listeners are listening for around 5.5 hours a week.

The national digital station, which launched on 29 June 2020, has established a strong audience across the UK for a roster of broadcasters that includes Aasmah Mir and Stig Abell at Breakfast, Matt Chorley, Mariella Frostrup, John Pienaar, Phil Williams, Carole Walker, Luke Jones, Jenny Kleeman, Alexis Conran, Hugo Rifkind, Ayesha Hazarika, Calum Macdonald, Kait Borsay, Cathy Newman and Michael Portillo.