BORIS Johnson should leave Downing Street immediately and not remain as prime minister, Scottish Conservative leader Douglas Ross has said.
The Moray MP, who voted against Johnson continuing as party leader in the no confidence ballot in June, told STV News that stepping down was the “correct decision” for the Prime Minister.
Ross said the wave of MPs resigning from the UK Government, which by early Thursday afternoon stood at 59, had made Johnson’s departure “inevitable”.
The Scottish Tory leader went on: “We don't know yet the timetable from the 1922 Committee for electing a new leader. But if it is a significant amount of time, I think the best option would be for an interim prime minister to take over.
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“Given the events of the last 36 to 48 hours I think it would be very difficult for the Prime Minister to continue. There are so many vacancies within government at the moment, I think that will be very problematic.”
Asked about the impact on the Conservative Party of Johnson having to be dragged “kicking and screaming” from No 10, Ross said: “He has confirmed he is standing down as leader of the party today. That is the announcement that we heard from Downing Street this morning. So that element is now absolutely assured.
“What he is speculating … is that he may continue until the autumn when a new leader is installed then. I mean, it may be from the 1922 Committee that the process for electing a leader doesn't have to be as long as that.
“But if it does go on for several weeks and months, My preferred option would be to see an interim leader in place.”
Asked who that interim prime minister might be, Ross suggested Dominic Raab (above), the deputy prime minister, given his experience filling in for Johnson in the past. He said that talk of Theresa May or even Ruth Davidson stepping in was not “realistic”.
Ross was speaking before Johnson gave his resignation speech outside Downing Street, flanked by loyalists such as Nadine Dorries and Alister Jack.
The Prime Minister said the “herd instinct” of Tory MPs had moved against him, but said he planned to remain in office until a replacement had been chosen.
The announcement has proven unpopular with Conservatives and opposition parties. Labour have threatened to call a no confidence vote in the Commons if Johnson does not immediately step down, while former prime minister John Major has intervened calling for Johnson’s instant dismissal.
Asked if Johnson’s removal would come as a relief giving his own U-turns on whether or not he should stay, Ross told STV: “I think we've seen just in the last 48 hours how difficult it is for every colleague to make the decision that I made that you could no longer support the leader of your party and the Prime Minister. These have been loyal Cabinet colleagues and ministers who have worked hard in their departments to deliver for the people of the United Kingdom.
“These are not easy choices for anyone to make. I don't take any great joy out of this. But I do think we have now reached the correct position where the Prime Minister is standing down.”
Ross would not be drawn on who he may support in a leadership election after Johnson’s ousting, but made clear he would not be throwing his own hat into the ring.
He went on: “I hope any candidate looking to replace the Prime Minister will look at how they can build some bridges that have been broken over recent months and years in terms of whoever's brought into it the current Cabinet, who worked with the current Prime Minister.
“We have a very broad range of very skilled politicians across our parliamentary party and I think we should be looking to a very broad range of cabinet ministers going forward as well.”
Asked if ditching Johnson could be a boon to Tories in Scotland given his overwhelming unpopularity, Ross said: “Well, look, I think we are just hours after the Prime Minister's resignation and we are years away from the next General Election.
“What I think is really important is the party unites behind the next prime minister to really deliver for the whole United Kingdom. What I think will be very interesting is what all the candidates see about Scotland and the Union going forward, because it's clearly a very important issue, given the threat that the First Minister is holding over the country, to divide us all over again with another independence referendum next year.”
Ross said that he believed Johnson had been right to dismiss a request for a section 30 order from the SNP-Green government for a second independence referendum.
