Ruth Davidson has announced she will make a sensational return to frontline Scottish politics to lead the pro-Union camp in the event of a second independence referendum.
The former Scottish Conservative leader, who stepped down in 2019, has remained a prominent figure in her party despite taking up a seat in the House of Lords.
Nicola Sturgeon announced earlier this year she wants to hold another referendum in October next year - but the UK Government has refused a Section 30 order which would give the Scottish Parliament powers to hold a vote.
It is now up to the Supreme Court to decide if a vote without the consent of Westminster would be legal.
Davidson was speaking at an LBC Radio show as part of the Edinburgh Festival.
Asked whether she would ever come back and "stand up to Sturgeon", she said: "First of all, were there to be one [a referendum], I will always come back and get involved in whatever way I can because I believe in it and I believe in fighting for what you believe in.
"I honestly don't think there is going to be one within the next sort of 10 to 15 years - and by which point, politics will have moved on so much that people won't have a clue who I am."
Davidson said that "she wouldn't have to be asked" by the party or prime minister to get involved. But a return to frontline elected politics has been ruled out by the former Edinburgh Central MSP.
She said: "I think my time in elected politics is over."
In July 2021 she was given a life peerage in the House of Lords. And she took aim at the current Scottish Government plans to hold a referendum in October 2023 - depending on the outcome of a Supreme Court ruling on the vote's legality.
She accused Nicola Sturgeon 's party of "weakness" by pledging to use the next general election as a "de-facto referendum".
Davidson said: "That is a sign of weakness, that they don't know what their next move is but they needed to do something. I'm not sure that plan is one that is wholly effective."
She also said she did not "understand the logic" of the SNP 's desire for a second referendum. Despite pro-independence groups having a majority of seats - SNP and the Scottish Greens - in the Scottish Parliament, she said the party should respect the result of the 2014 referendum.
"I don't think you get to keep running a question because you didn't like the answer," she said.
"I fundamentally disagree with that."
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