DOUGLAS Ross has called on Boris Johnson to resign as Prime Minister.
The Scottish Tory leader has ended a period of silence following the quickfire resignations of Rishi Sunak and Sajid Javid on Tuesday evening.
A further 18 junior ministers had resigned by Wednesday lunchtime.
Ross, who voted against Johnson in last month’s no-confidence vote, said the Prime Minister’s “time is up”.
He told the BBC: “The Prime Minister needs to realise he’s lost the support of many colleagues and he has to stand down as Prime Minister.
"It’s not an easy thing for many of us to tell the Prime Minister but the time is up and he needs to step aside.”
Ross confirmed to LBC that he has not resubmitted a letter of no-confidence to the 1922 Committee of backbench Tory MPs. He suggested that members of the executive could approach the Prime Minister and urge him to stand down, instead of trying to change the rules of the organisation to force a second confidence vote this year.
Asked when he thinks the Prime Minister will realise the "game is up", Ross replied: "I don't think he will."
The Moray MP added: "He has to look at what is the best thing for the country now and to have a government that is fully focused on all the issues we need to be delivering on means we have to have ministers and cabinet ministers in place and at the moment we have far too many vacancies."
“He has to look at what is the best thing for the country now” Scottish Tory leader @Douglas4Moray tells @ginadavidsonlbc he expects more govt resignations to come, and doesn’t see Boris Johnson lasting the week. @LBC @LBCNews pic.twitter.com/mNHRchkYbD
— Jack Foster (@jackfostr) July 6, 2022
The Cabinet chaos was prompted by Johnson’s handling of the Chris Pincher scandal.
At Prime Minister’s Questions, the Tory leader said the “colossal mandate” he had been handed by voters in 2019 means he should keep going despite the “difficult circumstances” he faces.
In January, Ross called for Johnson to resign over the partygate scandal. He reversed that position in March following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, insisting it was not the time for regime change.
The Scottish Tory leader U-turned again last month as he voted against the PM in a confidence ballot, which Johnson narrowly survived.
As ministers resigned from Johnson's government on Tuesday evening and Wednesday morning, Ross remained silent before confirming his position in the afternoon.
However, one of his MPs remains steadfastly behind the Prime Minister. Scottish Secretary Alister Jack said: "I fully support the Prime Minister. I am sorry to see good colleagues resign, but we have a big job of work to do, and that’s what we’re getting on with.”
Scottish Tory MP Andrew Bowie, meanwhile, has called for a second confidence vote. He tweeted: "Three weeks ago I said, despite my vote, we needed to focus on the issues facing the country, not internal fights in the Party. But Government is not functioning. I have therefore written to the 22 to request another vote of confidence in Boris Johnson's leadership."
