Ruth Davidson vowed the Tory challenge to SNP dominance would be free from London meddling as she launched a 150-day countdown to the Holyrood election.
The Scottish Conservatives leader set out her stall by calling for an end to “constitutional turmoil” after the independence referendum and promising not to put Scotland out of kilter with the rest of the UK by using new powers to raise taxes.
She told party supporters in Edinburgh: “This is a campaign and a movement planned, executed, organised and run from here in Scotland. I don’t need to go to London and have David Cameron do a photo op signing a wee piece of paper to tell me that I’m in charge.”
In a direct pitch for the centre ground she criticised “bowing to the big state on the one hand or genuflecting to the free market on the other”.
She said the independence question had left Scotland “a more divided country”, adding that too often the debate turned “nasty”.
In a press briefing after the speech, she said the party leadership were kept at an arm’s length over procedures for vetting and selecting candidates for next year’s election.
But she revealed a “very difficult conversation” she had with Scottish Secretary David Mundell to convince him to let his son stand for next year’s election.
She said he was worried about his son entering the rough and tumble of Scottish politics.