RUTH Davidson overshadowed her successor on the final day of the election campaign by claiming Nicola Sturgeon is so unpopular with some voters that they refer to her as ‘that f***ing woman’ on the doorstep.

The former Scottish Tory leader’s remark, made after a joint event with Jackson Carlaw in Edinburgh, was called “disgraceful” and misogynistic.

The Scottish Tories have dropped virtually all mention of Boris Johnson and Brexit from their leaflets, focusing on Ms Sturgeon instead and urging voters to “tell her again” to ditch a new independence vote.

After she and Mr Carlaw made speeches omitting Mr Johnson, Ms Davidson was asked if the Tory campaign was based on Ms Sturgeon being “toxic” on the doorstep.

She said: “People always say that politicians are Marmite, so we’ll use that analogy.

“In terms of the people that don’t like her, it has got harder.

“It’s gone from ‘that woman’ to ‘that bloody woman’ to ‘that effing woman’, and that’s where we’re at now. I think there are a lot of people that are projecting their antagonism and their resistance to a policy on to a person. But That happens quite a lot in politics.”

Asked if her party was fuelling that personal antagonism with their “tell her again” slogan, and whether there was a whiff of sexism to it, Ms Davidson said: “There’s a genuine sense that people have not been listened. That she personally is ignoring what they had said and said repeatedly. You try to keep it as short and snappy as you can.”

Mr Carlaw added: “If Alex Salmond had still been the leader, the slogan would have been ‘tell him again’.

“The point here is that it was both Nicola Sturgeon and Alex Salmond who signed the Edinburgh Agreement, who were leading the SNP, who gave that commitment to the people of Scotland that it was a once in a generation vote.”

Earlier at the event, Ms Davidson and Mr Carlaw said today was the “one last chance” to stop Ms Sturgeon’s Indyref2 next year.

Ms Davidson said: “I’m urging everybody, whether you’re a regular Tory voter, Labour voter or none of the above, to lend us your vote.

“Let’s stop Indyref2 and get Scotland moving forward.”

Mr Carlaw said Mr Corbyn would be ready to “sacrifice” Scotland to become Prime Minister, giving Ms Sturgeon a second referendum on day one of a hung parliament.

He said the SNP would never have a mandate for Indyref2 unless they polled 2m votes in an election, the same number of people who voted No in 2014 on an 84.6 per cent turnout.

But he refused to say what level of Tory support would count as a success, or would be enough to stop Ms Sturgeon’s Indyref2 plan.

Ms Davidson said she wanted “a net increase” on the 13 MPs of 2017.

She later lavished praise on Mr Carlaw for his performance as stand-in leader and conduct of the election campaign, all but endorsing him as her permanent replacement.

The Scottish Tories’ leadership contest is due to start in January.

Reacting to Ms Davidson’s “f***ing woman” comment, Joanna Cherry QC, the SNP candidate in Edinburgh South West, tweeted: “Excuse me? Does Ruth Davidson think this is acceptable?? There’s enough misogyny in politics without female politicians seeming to endorse it.”

Former Holyrood Presiding Officer Tricia Marwick added: “I speak to people of all parties and none and never heard that said. Perhaps that language is an indication of the circles Ms Davidson moves in and was also responsible for enabling by her own choice of language.”

Sarah Masson, the SNP candidate in Edinburgh West, said it was the kind of comment that put young women off entering politics, adding: “I hope women from all parties will call out this disgraceful behaviour from a supposed feminist for what it is.”

In a series of final stops on her party’s battle bus, Ms Sturgeon said today was a “now or never” moment to lock Mr Johnson out of power.

She said: “In Scotland the SNP is the only party strong enough to stop Boris Johnson. With polls tightening we have a real chance to lock him out of Number 10.

“This election is Scotland’s chance to stop five years of a Boris Johnson government and all the damage that will do. It’s now or never.

“Boris Johnson has been well and truly found out during the campaign and it is clear that he is totally unfit to be given the keys to 10 Downing Street for five years.

“The SNP is the main challenger in every Tory seat in Scotland, and by voting SNP we can make Scotland Tory-free on Friday and do our bit to lock Boris Johnson out of office. And, as the chances of a hung parliament start to rise, no wonder the Tories are starting to panic.

“SNP MPs will stand up for the people of Scotland – protecting our NHS from a Tory-Trump trade deal, demanding £4 billion extra investment in our health service and stopping Boris Johnson from imposing his extreme Brexit on Scotland against our will.

“And we’ll always defend the right of people in Scotland to decide whether or not to become an independent country free from Tory governments who do us harm.

“So my message to voters is this – if you don’t want to wake up on Friday 13th to 5 years of Boris Johnson, don’t leave it to other people to stop him.

“Vote SNP, to lock the Tories out of Downing Street, escape Brexit and put Scotland’s future in Scotland’s hands.”

Scottish LibDem leader Willie Rennie said a vote for his party was a vote “to stop Brexit, stop independence and build a brighter future for Scotland in the United Kingdom”.

Campaigning in Edinburgh, he said: “Brexit is bad for jobs, the economy and security.

“If the Conservatives win we will be stuck in years of trade negotiations while important local issues fall by the way side. Meanwhile the SNP want to pile chaos on top of chaos with another independence referendum.”

Scottish Labour leader Richard Leonard joined Jeremy Corbyn in Glasgow, while the Scottish Greens urged action on climate change.