SCOTTISH Tories are voicing their dread over the prospect of a return for Boris Johnson to No 10.
Following the resignation of Liz Truss, a few Tory MPs are being touted as possible replacements, including Rishi Sunak, Penny Mordaunt and former PM Johnson.
Among those three, Sky News has signalled that Johnson has the second most backing among Tory MPs behind Rishi Sunak.
Our @skynews spreadsheet this morning as of 7.45am, puts Sunak on 42 backers, Johnson on 37 and Mordaunt on 16 pic.twitter.com/NL5Aq7AJaO
— Beth Rigby (@BethRigby) October 21, 2022
With Johnson’s popularity north of the Border through the floor, Scottish Tories are reportedly dismayed at the idea of a return for the disgraced former prime minister.
Scottish Tory leader Douglas Ross has said that it would be a “disaster” for his party and the Union if Johnson won the keys to No 10 ahead of Mordaunt and Sunak.
Despite this claim, Ross has pledged to work with whoever becomes the next PM and has argued against calls for a General Election.
Ross repeatedly flip-flopped over his support for Johnson’s premiership amid partygate and the subsequent Russian invasion of Ukraine before the former PM resigned over his handling of the Chris Pincher scandal.
Speaking to the BBC on Thursday, Ross said: “I think people know where I stand on Boris Johnson but let’s see who the candidates are. People know that I didn’t support [Johnson] and indeed many of his own ministers resigned just a few weeks ago, which led to a confidence vote in Boris Johnson and Liz Truss came in as Prime Minister.”
He added that he would stay neutral on the new leadership race while urging Westminster Tories to return to the manifesto that won them the 2019 General Election and to ditch Truss’s vision of trickle-down economics.
Meanwhile, the BBC reports that one unnamed Scottish Tory said the idea of Johnson returning was “very dangerous” given that he still faces a parliamentary inquiry over potentially having misled the Commons over the partygate scandal.
Another Scottish Conservative said that a Johnson victory would “destroy the Conservative Party”.
Recent polls suggest that, as it stands, the Tories face electoral annihilation in Scotland and are on course to lose their spot as the main opposition to the SNP in Holyrood.
So far, Borders MP John Lamont has come out in support of Penny Mordaunt - who officially announced her candidacy on Friday - and West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine MP Andrew Bowie has backed Rishi Sunak.
