Scottish Conservative leader says she and
Jen Wilson delighted at arrival of Finn
Ruth Davidson, the Scottish Conservative leader, has announced that she has given birth to a baby boy named Finn, adding that she and her partner, Jen Wilson, are delighted.
Davidson, the first UK party leader to have a baby while in office, gave birth at Edinburgh royal infirmary on Friday morning. Finn Paul Davidson weighed 4.6kg (10lb 1.5oz).
She announced the birth on her Twitter account, along with a photograph of her new son and partner, saying: “Welcome to the world, little one. Finn Paul Davidson, born today, 10lb 1.5oz. Know that you are loved. X”
In a statement issued by Davidson’s party, Wilson said: “It was wonderful to welcome baby Finn into the world this morning. He is beautiful and already very loved. Ruth did brilliantly and Finn clearly has his mother’s lungs on him!”
Davidson, 39, added: “Jen and I are delighted at baby Finn’s safe arrival. A huge thank you to the medical team at the ERI and the midwives at Leith community treatment centre for looking after all three of us so well throughout the pregnancy and birth.
“I can’t wait to get this little one home to enjoy some family time together.”
Davidson had revealed she was expecting her first child earlier this year, but had initially called the unborn baby Fionnuala.
In her recently published book on famous women, Yes She Can: Why Women Own the Future, Davidson said she had been preparing for IVF treatment while travelling to Davos in Switzerland for the World Economic Forum.
She wrote that the experience of being pregnant had been “invasive, joyous, mortifying, fearful and hopeful”.
She also described how it felt to have nurses recognise her when she went for checkups: “There is a special feeling of wanting the earth to swallow you whole when you are led in a hospital gown to the room where an internal examination is going to take place by a nurse who decides to strike up a conversation with: ‘I saw you on the telly last night, talking about the NHS.’”
Davidson joins the prime minister of New Zealand, Jacinda Ardern, who gave birth earlier this year, as one of the few women to have had a child while serving as a party leader.
Named earlier this year as one of the world’s 100 most influential people by Time magazine, Davidson had reassured voters in her Edinburgh Central constituency that she would return to work as Scottish Tory leader and as an MSP soon after the birth.
She said at the time: “While this news may be unexpected for many people, let me reassure my constituents and voters across Scotland that there is no change to my political commitment or plans to lead the Scottish Conservatives into the 2021 Holyrood elections.
“I’m simply doing what thousands of working women do every year: having a child, taking some time off, and then returning to work soon after.”
Davidson and Wilson were inundated by messages of congratulations on social media, including one from Nicola Sturgeon, the first minister and one of Davidson’s fiercest political opponents. Sturgeon said: “Many congratulations to you both. I wish wee Finn a lifetime of happiness.”
Jackson Carlaw, the Scottish Tories’ acting leader, said: “Everyone in the Scottish Conservatives will be delighted for them both and, of course, desperate to meet the new arrival. In the meantime, I hope Ruth, Jen and Finn get some private family time together at this most special time. We wish them all the best.”
Arlene Foster, the leader of the Democratic Unionist party, which opposes gay marriage, sent a congratulatory message to Davidson and Wilson via Twitter that read: “New life is wonderful. We can all remember our first cuddle. Many congratulations.”