Douglas Ross calls for Boris Johnson to resign over party scandal
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The MP for Moray was one of the loudest voices inside the Conservative party demanding Mr Johnson’s resignation when allegations of illegal parties in Downing Street emerged. However, after attempts to oust the Tory leader failed to gain momentum, support for a leadership challenge has all but evaporated.
Mr Ross said it was “essential” that Scottish Conservatives “fully support what the UK Government is doing” during the invasion of Ukraine.
His public comments backing down on his resignation demands come as a number of other Conservative MPs also withdraw their letters of no confidence in their leader.
Mr Ross said: “The middle of an international crisis is not the time to be discussing resignations, unless it’s the removal from office of Vladimir Putin.
“There will be a time and place to debate partygate but, as even Keir Starmer said at the weekend, we should put that on pause while there is war in Europe.
“It’s essential that we all fully support what the UK Government is doing.
“In light of Russia’s appalling actions, the Government and Prime Minister need our backing, and they have mine and the whole Scottish Conservative party.
“We should all be focused on what we can do to help the Ukrainian people in any capacity.”
Another Tory MP told Express.co.uk: “I suppose war means everything else is irrelevant right now.
“I’m still not sure he’s the right person to lead us at the next election, but I do know now is not the time for a leadership election.”
Another told Express.co.uk they had withdrawn their letter because “Putin would like nothing more than us to be disunited right now”.
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Mr Ross’s original demands for a change in Prime Minister had led to a major rift between the Scottish Conservatives and the wider party.
Cabinet minister Jacob Rees-Mogg rejected the Moray representative as a “lightweight” figure for his criticism.
Meanwhile, the Prime Minister was all but uninvited from the Scottish Tory party conference taking place next weekend.
He was set to deliver a video message to the Aberdeen conference instead.
Douglas Ross is 'quite a lightweight figure' says Rees-Mogg
While it remains unknown if Mr Johnson will now address the two-day event, a spokesman said he would “welcome the Prime Minister appearing in person to speak about the war in Ukraine”.
A police investigation into allegations of illegal gatherings in Downing Street during the pandemic remains ongoing.
The Prime Minister and a number of staff members have been made to fill out questionnaires to respond to allegations.
It remains unclear when the Met Police will conclude their investigation into the 12 alleged lockdown breaches.
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