Ruth Davidson tells Brexiteers sniping at Theresa May to 'shut up' and put country before career

Ruth Davidson's frustrations with her pro-Brexit Westminster colleagues' sniping at Theresa May has spilled over as she told them to "shut up".

She accused some of the Prime Minister's critics in the Conservative Party of being more interested in their careers, telling them to "put the sharp elbows and the personal ambition away."

Speaking at an event in Edinburgh promoting her new book, she told them their job was to "get behind" Mrs May during the Brexit talks.

Ms Davidson also said there is "no contradiction" between her wanting to be First Minister and her mental health battles ruling her out of being Prime Minister.

The Scottish Tory leader said she did not want to spend her week 450 miles away from her family in Edinburgh, which she said was "more important to me than personal ambition".

But she said Bute House, the First Minister's official residence in the Scottish capital, was only three -and-a-half miles away from her home.

Ruth Davidson, Scottish Conservative leader

Ms Davidson told the event, organised by the Times, said: "I don't think that's an odd thing." She also disclosed she received a "really lovely" text message at the weekend from Mrs May, following her disclosures at the weekend.

The Scottish Tory leader revealed she suffered suicidal thoughts and self-harmed as a teenager and her determination to protect her mental health means she will never be Prime Minister.

The event also coincided with Mrs May's face-to-face talks with EU leaders in Salzburg, during which they rejected her Chequers plan as unworkable.

Pro-Brexit Tories such as Jacob Rees-Mogg and Boris Johnson have heaped criticism on the proposals.

But Ms Davidson said: "You know, I would really like some of my colleagues in Westminster to just shut up. Put the sharp elbows and the personal ambition away and just let the Prime Minister do her job and go in to bat for the country and bring home a deal.

"We're sending the Prime Minister in to negotiate, sitting across the table from 27 other nations and the massed ranks of the institutions of the EU.

"We're asking her to bring something back for the country. I don't care what you want your next job to be.

"Your job now is to get behind her and let her deliver for the country. Let the woman do her job."

The Scottish Tory said she has been denying she wanted to be Prime Minister for two years, but people only started to believe her last weekend when she disclosed her mental health problems.

But she said this did not rule her out of being First Minister, saying she does not want to build her home and family in Edinburgh then spend her working week in London.

Ms Davidson said: "I've got a big job I want to do, it's right here in Edinburgh, it's at Bute House."

She added: "I live three-and-a-half miles from Bute House, I'm the MSP for Bute House. I want to be the MSP in Bute House.

"Scotland is my home, I am of this place and I am intensely ambitious for my country and intensely ambitious for my party, and I'm intensely ambitious for what we can do in politics in Scotland if we are not squabbling about the constitution all the bloody time.

"I don't see a contradiction whatsoever. I'm incredibly privileged, I get to see behind the door of Number 10 Downing Street, and I don't want it. What I want is here.

"That's where my life is, that's where my family is, that's where my future is."