ARCH-UNIONIST group The Majority has demanded that Douglas Ross stand down as Scottish Tory leader after he opposed the Prime Minister in a no-confidence vote won by Boris Johnson.
After enough letters were sent to the 1922 Committee to trigger a vote of confidence on Johnson by Tory MPs, and following months of U-turns by Ross, the branch office boss said he would cast his ballot to oust his UK leader.
However, Johnson ran out the victor with 211 Conservative MPs giving him their support – four Scottish Tory MPs were among the 148 opposing him.
David Duguid and Alister Jack were the only Scottish Tory MPs to back the Prime Minister.
Prior to the vote, The Majority, which has campaigned against The National's existence, tweeted: "When Boris Johnson wins, DISLOYAL Douglas Ross must resign #ResignRoss"
When Boris Johnson wins, DISLOYAL Douglas Ross must resign #ResignRoss
— The Majority (@themajorityscot) June 6, 2022
Ross had said: “While war in Europe continues and the UK Government is providing such strong support to President Zelenskyy and the people of Ukraine, the timing of this vote is far from ideal.
“However, while I’ve not sought to bring this vote about at this time, it is now going ahead tonight, and I’ve had to consider how to vote on behalf of my constituents and the country.
“I do so knowing there are vocal opinions on both sides of this argument, an argument that has dominated much of the political discussion for many months.
“The Prime Minister can be proud of many of the successes his government have led on, particularly the Covid vaccine and the furlough scheme.
“However, I have heard loud and clear the anger at the breaking of Covid rules that we all did our best to follow, and even more so at the statements to Parliament from the Prime Minister on this topic.
“Having listened closely to people in Moray who re-elected me to represent them, and from many people across Scotland, now that this confidence vote is upon us, I cannot in good faith support Boris Johnson.
"My vote tonight will support the motion of no confidence.”
Tory MPs voted by 211 to 148 in support of the Prime Minister but the scale of the revolt against his leadership leaves him wounded.
When Theresa May faced a confidence vote in 2018 she secured the support of 63% of her MPs – but was still forced out within six months.
Johnson saw 41% of his MPs vote against him, a worse result than Mrs May.
The Prime Minister made a last-ditch plea to Tory MPs to back him, promising future tax cuts and highlighting his own record of electoral success.
But with concern over the partygate scandal, economic policy, drifting opinion polls and Johnson's style of leadership, the Prime Minister faced a difficult task to persuade his doubters.
The ballot was triggered after at least 54 MPs – 15% of the party's representatives in the Commons – said they had no confidence in the Prime Minister.
Johnson wrote to Tory MPs and addressed them at a private meeting in Westminster in the hours before voting began.
He told the meeting that "under my leadership" the party had won its biggest electoral victory in 40 years, and pledged future tax cuts, with Chancellor Rishi Sunak expected to say more in the coming weeks.
He warned them that Tory splits risked the "utter disaster" of Sir Keir Starmer's Labour entering Downing Street, propped up by the SNP.
"The only way we will let that happen is if we were so foolish as to descend into some pointless fratricidal debate about the future of our party," he said.
