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Ruth Davidson, the Scottish Tory leader, has said the next Tory prime minister should continue to oppose a second Scottish independence referendum, and refuse to authorise one.

In her first political interview to mark her return from maternity leave, Davidson told BBC Scotland she would want the UK government to block a new referendum for the foreseeable future – a stance already taken by Theresa May.

“I’ll say no, and this prime minister and the next prime minister should say so too,” she said.

Sturgeon reiterated her call for a second referendum before 2021 at the Scottish National party’s spring conference at the weekend, when she also suggested the vote could be held late next year.

Pointing to opinion polls showing a slight rise in the yes vote to 47% and 49% over the weekend, Sturgeon said that if support surged because of a no-deal Brexit or the arrival of unpopular new Tory prime minister, then “no Westminster government can ever stand in the way of Scotland’s right to choose”.

Sturgeon has floated the idea that Boris Johnson’s arrival as prime minister could lead to a significant bounce in support for independence. The polls show only about a fifth of Scottish voters currently want a new referendum in the next two years.

Davidson is a noted critic of Johnson, but she told the BBC any of May’s successors should hold the line. Davidson returns from maternity leave after the birth of her son Finn this Friday, when she hosts the Scottish Tory conference in Aberdeen. She said:

Nicola Sturgeon doesn’t agree with Nicola Sturgeon on this. Not only is she going back on the Edinburgh agreement that she signed [with David Cameron in 2012], where she said she would respect the result for a generation, the test she put down for any future referendum before the last election would be that the majority of Scots would want it. The majority of Scots don’t want this, and if they need a voice to stand up to Nicola Sturgeon, I will be that voice.

Davidson admitted that watching the chaotic and tortuous Brexit process takes place from home left her thinking it “looks like a bit of a mess”. Given that, all sides needed to compromise more and secure a cross-party deal, she said.

My message to colleagues both in my party and others is now is the time, instead of sticking in your trenches and hoping everyone moves to you, is to take that first step forward and start that compromise that clearly needs to happen. If the country is going to come together, it does require politicians to come together first.