RISHI Sunak had to be rescued by Alister Jack as he failed to name even one Scottish Tory frontbench MSP, other than group leader Douglas Ross.
In a moment that will leave the Scots Tories at Holyrood red-faced, their boss squirmed when he was asked to name four of them.
The moment came after the Prime Minister said he was due to meet with Scottish Tory group leader Douglas Ross during his visit north of the Border.
Asked by journalists if he could name four other MSPs on the Scottish Tory frontbench, which is the second largest party in Holyrood, Sunak pointedly could not.
Instead he said he had been in Scotland “six times in the last 12 months” and met with Ross and “multiple members of this team” during that period, but did not mention any other Tory MSPs by name.
Scottish Secretary Alister Jack, who accompanied the Prime Minister in a visit to Aberdeenshire to announce support for new oil and gas licensing as well as funding for carbon capture and storage, jumped to Sunak’s defence to say the question was “unfair” due to a recent “reshuffle”.
The reshuffle in June saw Tory MSPs Jamie Greene and Stephen Kerr dropped from their roles as justice and education spokespeople respectively while Sue Webber’s position as drugs policy spokesperson was cut to expand the health brief.
Sunak responded to the question: “I think … I’m seeing them all next door, actually… their team … I think … I’ve probably been here six times in the last twelve months and I’ve seen Douglas and met multiple members of this team during that period.”
Following Jack’s intervention, Sunak lept on the excuse he had been offered.
The Prime Minister said: “He’s literally just had a reshuffle, which is why I don’t want to … but I don’t think anyone can say I’m not committed to working with Douglas when I’ve been here six times in the past 12 months, I’m seeing him again today.
“And whether it’s on things like DRS [deposit return scheme] or on things like supporting the North Sea industry, these are topics that the Scottish Conservatives have put forward and have pushed for, and they were right to do so, and they are making a meaningful difference to people’s lives in Scotland, and I work with him and his team to do that.”
The interview with journalists was "on the record", meaning it can be reported, but off camera.
Sunak's failure had echoes of Jacob Rees-Mogg in the Commons in January 2022 when, as then leader of the House, he conceded he could not name the leader of the Welsh Conservatives.
The previous day, Rees-Mogg had branded Scots Tory leader Ross a "lightweight".
In 2021, Boris Johnson further embarrassed the Conservative group leader when he called him by the wrong name in the Commons.
