SCOTTISH Tory MPs have been criticised for their “silence and inaction” in the run-up to Boris Johnson’s confidence vote.
The Prime Minister has reportedly been in “good” spirits as the crunch vote looms, with his Cabinet ministers dutifully coming out in support - but one cohort has remained less than forthcoming on the subject.
Aside from fiercely loyal Scotland Secretary Alister Jack (Dumfries and Galloway) and Scotland Office minister Iain Stewart (Milton Keynes South), the rest of the Scottish Tory MPs in Westminster remained tight-lipped until after their vote was cast.
It took over eight hours after the vote was announced on Monday for Scottish Tory leader Douglas Ross to make a statement on his intentions - and he yet again changed his mind and said he would support the vote of no confidence.
The move marks the fourth change in position from Ross since the partygate saga began.
Opposition politicians in the constituencies of Tory MPs have criticised them for failing to speak up ahead of the vote, and some for continually flip-flopping.
In his statement on Monday, released just over an hour before the vote kicked off, Ross said that “having listened” to his constituents over the PM’s actions, he “cannot in good faith” support Johnson.
He also confirmed that he was not one of the MPs who sent a letter of no confidence to the backbench 1922 committee.
The remaining four Tory MPs made no mention of the vote on their social media or personal websites on Monday.
The National called their constituency offices on Monday to see if they would be committing either way, but all four rang out or went to voicemail.
Andrew Bowie (West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine) has previously criticised the PM, but fell short of calling for a resignation last week.
He joked in a video on social media, posted at 7.30am on Monday - around 45 minutes before the vote was confirmed - that the summer parliamentary session was going to be “quite eventful” but didn’t make any specific references to the confidence vote.
Bowie, John Lamont (Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk) and David Mundell (Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale) said after the vote that they had gone against the Prime Minister.
Bowie wrote: "Tonight, and with a heavy heart, I have taken the extremely tough decision to vote against the Prime Minister.
"I have not taken the decision lightly, at all, but after listening to my constituents."
Mundell said: "After a difficult couple of years and listening to the views of my constituents, I voted tonight for a fresh start and new leadership for our country."
Tonight, I have voted against the Prime Minister in the Vote of Confidence. I have also resigned as PPS to Liz Truss at @FCDOGovUK. My statement below 👇 pic.twitter.com/SGNFHsWwAr
— John Lamont MP 🇬🇧🏴 (@John2Win) June 6, 2022
Lamont wrote: "Tonight, I have voted against the Prime Minister in the Vote of Confidence. I have also resigned as PPS to Liz Truss."
David Duguid (Banff and Buchan) has not yet made a statement.
Emma Harper, SNP MSP for South Scotland, said that Johnson was "completely unfit" to be Prime Minister and criticised the Tory MPs in her area over their silence on the issue.
She said: “The fact that Alister Jack is still defending Boris Johnson shows his contempt not only for people in his own constituency of Dumfries and Galloway, but for the people of Scotland.
"Mr Jack, by defending the Prime Minister, is saying that it is acceptable to break the law, to lie to parliament and to mislead the country and still hold high office.
"This isn’t the kind of person I want to see in Government and, if Mr Jack won't do the right thing and back the no confidence vote, then he should go as well.
“Other South Scotland MP’s - including David Mundell and John Lamont - have been silent on the no confidence vote. It’s the same old from them - sitting on the fence as per usual.
“And as for Douglas Ross, he’s flip-flopped his way round Boris Johnson’s actions since the beginning. I don’t think people will treat what he has said with any credibility or seriousness.”
SNP MSP for Banffshire and Buchan Coast Karen Adam, part of Duguid’s constituency and neighbouring to Bowie’s, has been vocal in the past urging Tory MPs to use their influence to remove the PM.
She said: “This has gone on for so long now that untold damage has taken place to the integrity of our democracy.
“The silence and inaction from the Scottish Conservatives have been shocking but not unexpected - allowing a law-breaking prime minister to run the country – it just shows that they know the union is falling apart but are unwilling to face up to reality. The United Kingdom is in tatters.
“Whether Boris Johnson is removed from power today or not will do little to actually change the trajectory Westminster is hurling us toward.”
SNP MSP Richard Lochhead (Moray) said it was “essential” that the Scottish Tory leader votes against Johnson.
Lochhead said that he hears the “utter public disgust” over partygate daily in his and Ross’s constituency area, and said it would have gone down “like a bucket of sick” if Ross backed the PM.
The employment minister added: “The Prime Minister’s actions are indefensible and Moray MP’s flip flopping on whether or not Boris Johnson should resign is gob-smacking.”
Scottish Greens co-leader Patrick Harvie warned the public not to expect any “principled decision” from the Scottish or UK Tories in Westminster.
He told LBC: “The UK parliamentary Conservative party are people who have known for years exactly what kind of person Boris Johnson has been, what kind of person he’s always been.
“They know he’s not fit for office and they promoted him, supported him and put him in place as Prime Mininster anyway.
“The only thing that will persuade them I think to vote to remove him is if they’ve decided it’s not in their self interest, if they think enough of their jobs are on the line then they’ll get rid of him.”
