Nine Tory MSPs have backed Liz Truss to replace Boris Johnson as party leader and Prime Minister. The Foreign Secretary was described as a “heartfelt” Unionist by members of Scots Tory leader Douglas Ross’ shadow cabinet.
Truss is tipped to defeat Rishi Sunak in the leadership contest after a faltering campaign by the ex Chancellor. However, she has so far struggled to win key endorsements in Scotland, with none of the six Scottish Tory MPs publicly supporting her.
Sunak has secured the support of key party figures such as Baroness Davidson, as well as MPs Andrew Bowie and John Lamont. In a joint article in the Times, the MSPs handed Truss a huge boost by laying out why she is the best choice.
It was signed by Murdo Fraser, Rachael Hamilton, Liam Kerr, Stephen Kerr and Oliver Mundell, who are members of the shadow cabinet, as well as Finlay Carson, Sharon Dowey, Douglas Lumsden and Graham Simpson.
They wrote: “With Liz as prime minister the Union won’t just be defended it will be championed.”
The nine MSPs claimed Truss secured the removal of “damaging US tariffs” on Scottish industries such as single-malt Scotch whisky, cashmere and machinery, as well as helping entrepreneurs to thrive:
“Thanks to Liz the UK Treasury committed over a billion pounds of investment in Scotland’s city region and growth deals to create the high-skill jobs of the future.”
They backed her plan for tax cuts and staunch opposition to indyref2:
“Liz won’t play Nicola Sturgeon’s constitutional games. While the SNP continues its attempts to distract Scottish voters from their shameful record in government with a referendum sideshow, Liz as prime minister will focus on delivering for the people of Scotland on the issues they care about most.
“Liz will not be distracted by the SNP’s independence obsession, she will be laser-focused on uniting our country and delivering for it like we have never seen before.”
Truss told The Sunday Telegraph yesterday that if she succeeded Johnson “there will be no second Scottish independence referendum on my watch”.
The MSPs also claimed Truss would fund Scottish communities directly - a policy Sunak has claimed as his own.
A Sunak campaign spokesman told the paper: “Rishi was the first Chancellor in over 20 years to directly invest in Scottish, Welsh and Northern Irish communities — he was the Chancellor who broke Treasury orthodoxy. This is simply a copy and paste of current government policy.”
He added that there was still “all to play for” in the leadership race.”
Tory members will start receiving ballot papers today, with a winner announced in early September.
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