Ruth Davidson, Leader of the Scottish Conservatives came to North Ayrshire this weekend to kick start the "short" campaign for Jamie Greene, candidate for Cunninghame North and also second on the West Scotland Regional list.
They started the day in West Kilbride, lunching in the Cherry Orchard restaurant in the award winning, famous craft village. Ruth met with locals and the café owners before the party moved on to Largs and the centre of the action.
Greeted by a traditional campaign "street stall" and a merry gathering of local activists Ruth and Jamie chatted with shoppers, tourists and local business owners as the sun provided some brief respite from the recent storm conditions. Ruth met with local press to discuss the campaign and the Conservatives hopes for the upcoming Scottish Election.
Ruth told local press that she was there to support Jamie who she said was a "hard-working candidate who cared deeply about North Ayrshire and Arran" and should the electorate decide so, she would be looking forward to welcoming Jamie to her team in Holyrood.
Jamie Greene said "It was an honour to have our party leader in Largs today to show support to my local campaign but also re-iterate the three reasons that people should vote Scottish Conservative in both votes in this election. Why? 1) To be a credible and formidable opposition party in Holyrood, something which Labour had its chance to do but failed. 2) To always stick up for hard working families in Scotland and protect their pay packets. Scotland should not be taxed higher than other parts of the UK and 3) to always provide opposition tot he notion of independence and provide the only pro-UK voice in the Scottish parliament. Labour have flip-flopped on this issue more times than I've had a coffee in the Bagel Basket on Largs High Street."
He added "I stood in this seat last year for the Westminster elections and decided to return again for the Scottish Parliament because I care passionately about making a difference in this part of Scotland. Politicians can all too easily rest on their laurels after many years in power in a seat, and its about time the people of North Ayrshire and Arran had a fresh representative in parliament to try ad turnaround the economy across this constituency. "