Scots Tory leader refuses to back Boris to stay as PM at next election

Scots Tory leader Douglas Ross refuses to back Boris Johnson to lead party into the next election after Partygate saga despite withdrawing no confidence letter – as another MP retracts their call for the PM to quit

• Ross refused to endorse PM, despite dropping demand he quit over Partygate
• Insisted he had never had ‘personal rift’ with the PM despite saying he should go
• Andrew Bridgen is latest MP to withdraw letter of no confidence in Mr Johnson

Scottish Tory leader Douglas Ross has refused to back Boris Johnson to lead the Conservatives into the next election.

In a move that could exacerbate the rift between the Scottish and English parties Mr Ross refused to endorse the Prime Minister, despite last week dropping his demand for him to quit over Partygate.

It came as backbencher Andrew Bridgen became the latest MP to withdraw their letter of no confidence in Mr Johnson, citing the war in Ukraine as a reason not to rock the current political landscape.

Speaking to the Telegraph, Mr Ross insisted he had never had a ‘personal rift’ with the PM, but merely ‘a disagreement on one fundamental issue’.

The Scottish Conservative leader was the most senior MP to call for the Prime Minister to quit over the Partygate furore.

But he last week said that all talk of his resignation should be paused while there is war in Europe.

Asked if Mr Johson should lead the Tories into the next election, which has to tajke place before December 2024, Mr Ross said:  ‘I’m fully focused on the international crisis and the war in Ukraine, not some future general election years down the line.

‘Previous reservations I had are the last thing on my mind when I see Russia bombing children’s wards.’

In a move that could exacerbate the rift between the Scottish and English parties Mr Ross refused to endorse the Prime Minister, despite last week dropping his demand for him to quit over Partygate.

Speaking to the Telegraph, Mr Ross insisted he had never had a ‘personal rift’ with the PM, but merely ‘a disagreement on one fundamental issue’.

Mr Johnson is due to address the Scottish Tory conference in Aberdeen tomorrow.

But Mr Ross confirmed to the Daily Mail yesterday that the PM will not campaign in Scotland during the forthcoming local elections despite their truce. 

Mr Ross also insisted he had no regrets about calling for Mr Johnson to resign, despite withdrawing his no confidence letter last week, and vowed to lead his party into the next General Election even if there is no change in Number 10. 

In January Mr Bridgen become the fifth Tory MP to call for embattled Boris Johnson to quit over ‘Partygate’.

The MP for North West Leicestershire, who backed the PM to be party leader in June 2019, submitted a letter of no-confidence in Mr Johnson and urged him to leave office within the next three months.

Blasting the ‘moral vacuum at the heart of Government’, he joined Mr Ross, Sir Roger Gale, William Wragg and Caroline Nokes in calling for Mr Johnson to resign over his handling of the lockdown party scandal.

But last night he told a Westminster event that he was withdrawing the letter. He told the Telegraph: ‘It would be an indulgence to have a vote of no confidence at the time of an international emergency, and this is not going to go away quickly.

‘We need Boris Johnson where he is, leading the country.’

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