Boris Johnson moaned his £145k-a-year job as Foreign Secretary was like being 'imprisoned in a steel condom’, it has emerged.
The future PM suggested he couldn’t say anything controversial while representing Britain overseas, Former Scottish Tory leader Ruth Davidson said.
She added the comment seemed “odd” to her, because she hadn’t asked him what he thought or raised the subject of condoms at all.
He also landed himself in hot water as Foreign Secretary regardless - making incorrect claims about British-Iranian prisoner Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe that her husband said "enabled a propaganda campaign" against her.
Boris Johnson was forced to give up his £250k-a-year weekly column for the Daily Telegraph when he became Foreign Secretary. He was then rehired on £275k without consulting the post-government jobs watchdog.
Mr Johnson became foreign secretary in 2016 and resigned in 2018 over Theresa May's Brexit plans.
Speaking to LBC's Iain Dale at a recent Edinburgh Fringe event, Baroness Davidson said: "He once described being foreign secretary to me as like being enclosed in a steel condom. I found it odd because I hadn't asked him.
"I think he meant the amount of attention he had from civil servants to make sure he didn't say anything. Imprisoned in a steel condom is what he said," she added, in comments reported by The Daily Telegraph.
"I've never heard that as a phrase... it would certainly affect performance, but this is not my area of expertise as I think you've already covered."
Baroness Davidson resigned the leadership of the Scottish Tories in August 2019 shortly after Mr Johnson became PM and was given a life peerage in the House of Lords in July 2021.
The 43-year-old has not been afraid to criticise Mr Johnson, including early last month saying it was "arrant nonsense" for him to remain until a new leader is elected.
Meanwhile, Downing Street has signalled it it still committed to assisting a parliamentary inquiry into whether Mr Johnson lied to MPs over lockdown parties in No 10.
Leading allies of the Prime Minister have attacked the investigation by the Commons Privileges Committee denouncing it as a "witch hunt".
It follows reports that a number of the committee members - including some of the Conservatives - have made public comments critical of Mr Johnson's conduct during the "partygate" scandal.
However, the Prime Minister's official spokesman said No 10 stood ready to assist the committee in its inquiries - and could continue to do so after Mr Johnson leaves office next month.
The spokesman also defended Mr Johnson's holiday with his wife, Carrie, in Slovenia amid criticism he was "missing in action" during the cost-of-living crisis.
"I think the public understand that it is not unusual for the Prime Minister - for ministers - to take some time off during the summer recess," they said.
