Boris Johnson will personally attend the Scottish Tory conference next week to burnish his “war leader” image in an attempt to bury the sleaze of partygate allegations against him.
The Prime Minister is due at the annual weekend get-together in Aberdeen having thawed relations with Scottish leader Douglas Ross and Scottish Tory MSPs who called for him to resign over breaches of lockdown rules with parties inside Downing Street.
Ross was one of the first senior Tories to call for Johnson to quit in January after the PM admitted attending a Downing Street lockdown drinks party.
With the relationship with the Scottish party in the deep freezer it was thought the PM would only talk to the Scottish conference by video link, although he has made government visits to Scotland since the scandal broke.
But with the Ukraine crisis sidelining the partygate scandal, the Tories see an opportunity to overcome their divisions and promote Johnson as a unifying force in the war against Vladimir Putin.
A Scottish Conservative spokesman said: “We welcome the Prime Minister appearing in person to speak about the war in Ukraine at Scottish Conservative conference.”
Scottish secretary, Alister Jack, a close cabinet ally of Johnson said “the PM will be keen to attend in person”.
The SNP’s Westminster Depute Leader Kirsten Oswald MP said: “This is a major blow to Douglas Ross’s credibility and authority as Scottish Conservative leader – he has been humiliated and left to look utterly ridiculous."
“It beggars belief that Boris Johnson and Douglas Ross both believe they can remain in office and work constructively given everything that has happened in recent months."
“If Boris Johnson refuses to do the right thing and resign, then people will rightly question Douglas Ross’s position.”
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