DOUGLAS Ross is facing fresh pressure to go against Boris Johnson in the upcoming confidence vote as one of his fellow Tory MSPs has said he wouldn't back the PM.
A crunch vote on whether or not Johnson will remain as leader of the Tory party, and Prime Minister, is set for between 6pm and 8pm on Monday.
Ahead of the vote, Scottish Tory leader Douglas Ross has remained silent on the issue - instead tweeting about the Platinum Jubilee.
And now fellow Tory MSP Murdo Fraser has said that the country needs a "fresh start" and admitted he would vote against Johnson.
It comes as former Scottish Tory leader Ruth Davidson, who has remained critical of the PM throughout the partygate scandal, voiced her support for a scathing letter written by Tory MP Jesse Norman, who also said he could not vote in support of Johnson tonight.
The SNP have called on Tory MPs to vote Johnson out and "put the interests of the public first".
Ross has been roundly mocked for his flip-flopping in support of Johnson.
First he called for a resignation in the wake of the partygate scandal beginning to emerge and wrote a letter to the 1922 committee, then U-turning in March after the Ukraine invasion by Russia and citing the crisis as his reasoning.
After the full Sue Gray report was released, Ross then said the PM should resign only when the war in Ukraine is over.
He would later tell The National he "only changed position once" over whether or not Johnson should resign.
Fellow Tory MSP Fraser originally backed Ross during his first U-turn in March.
After Ross had withdrawn the letter to the 1922 committee, Fraser tweeted: "This is the right move at this time by @Douglas4Moray. It would be deeply irresponsible to seek to change Prime Minister when the international situation is as it is."
Just three months later, Fraser has had a change of opinion.
I don’t have a vote in tonight’s ballot in the House of Commons, but if I did I would be voting for change, and I would urge MP colleagues to vote accordingly. The country needs a fresh start under new Conservative & Unionist leadership.
— Murdo Fraser (@murdo_fraser) June 6, 2022
He wrote: "I don’t have a vote in tonight’s ballot in the House of Commons, but if I did I would be voting for change, and I would urge MP colleagues to vote accordingly.
"The country needs a fresh start under new Conservative & Unionist leadership."
Ahead of the vote, SNP Westminster leader Ian Blackford said: "Tory MPs must finally put the interests of the public first. They must vote Boris Johnson out and do it now.
“And there cannot be any more flip-flopping from Douglas Ross and the Scottish Tories. Ross has made himself and the Tory Holyrood group look utterly ridiculous, while the rest of the spineless Scottish Tory MPs have shown nothing but craven loyalty to Boris Johnson – it is way past time for all of them to finally do the right thing and vote him out of office.
"But for Scotland, the outcome of this vote will change very little. We will still have a Tory government we didn't vote for, imposing devastating policies we do not support."
Last week, Tory MSP Douglas Lumsden added his voice to the chorus calling for Johnson to resign, but said he respected Douglas Ross's position.
It comes as Baroness Davidson voiced support on social media for a scathing letter written by Tory MP Norman, who not only chastised the PM for partygate but also a whole raft of policies under his premiership - from the privatisation of Channel 4 to sending asylum seekers from the UK to Rwanda.
Sharing the letter, she wrote on social media: "Jesse Norman is not just a thoughtful and considered man, but he's also a loyal and supportive one. It will have pained him to write this.
"But, my God, how right he is."
Ross's fellow Scottish Tory MPs, David Mundell, John Lamont and David Duguid, have remained silent on the PM's confidence vote so far.
Last week, Kincardine and West Aberdeenshire MP Andrew Bowie publicly spoke out against Johnson on his website - but stopped short of calling for a resignation.
Bowie did not share the post on his social media pages, and instead has been posting about the Jubilee and D-Day celebrations.
Scottish Secretary Alister Jack has been the most vocal in support of the Prime Minister throughout the scandal, and again said that Johnson had his full support, citing his "tremendous leadership" at home and abroad.
