Stirling’s MP has called on the Conservatives to “evict” Boris Johnson from office “as soon as possible” after he finally resigned.
Mr Johnson announced his intention to go yesterday morning following a series of high-level resignations from the Government.
The timetable for choosing the new Conservative leader is expected next week, but Mr Johnson will remain in office until the party picks a successor.
Stirling Conservatives yesterday described the Prime Minister’s decision as “good for the party and the country”.
Pressure had been piled on him over his handling of the latest scandal to hit his administration – sexual harassment allegations over deputy chief whip Chris Pincher.
It had followed months of anger over parties in Downing Street during the pandemic which saw the Prime Minister himself receiving a fixed penalty notice for breaching Covid-19 rules.
Yesteday Stirling SNP MP Alyn Smith said while the PM’s intention to go was welcome he should be removed from office.
Mr Smith said: “Boris Johnson’s proposal to remain in Downing Street while a successor is found is a dangerous one.
“He will undoubtedly use the position for ill and must be removed from post as soon as possible.
“This is a man who has never been fit for such office, and it’s time for the Tories who put him there to evict him.”
A vote of confidence held last month left Mr Johnson weakened as 148 Conservative MPs voted against him.
He faced the prospect of a second vote of confidence next week as the rules of the backbench 1922 committee were expected to be changed following elections to its executive.
Mr Smith added: “Boris Johnson has been, without any doubt, the worst Prime Minster in living memory. He has presided over a government mired in scandal, sleaze, and criminality.
“He has undermined his office and the UK’s standing in the world by his behaviour.
“One of the first acts of his government was to remove Scotland, with the rest of the UK, from the European Union – something the people of Stirling and Scotland rejected at the ballot box time and again, and which has caused severe damage to our country.
“Boris Johnson now escapes accountability for his Brexit disaster, while the rest of us who remain at our posts still have to deal with the impact it is having on trade and the cost of living crisis.”
Stirling Council Conservative Group leader councillor Neil Benny said yesterday: “This is a good day for our party and the country.
“With a new leader we will be able to move forward.
“People can see that the Conservatives offer the only real alternative to the SNP and their obsession for a second independence referendum.”
Mid Scotland and Fife Conservative MSP Alexander Stewart said yesterday: “This decision was inevitable, as so many of the party’s MPs had lost confidence in the Prime Minister during the past weeks and months.
“There will however now be a due process to follow in the run up to the autumn.”
His Mid Scotland and Fife colleague Dean Lockhart MSP has consistently declined to comment on the Prime Minister in recent months, and had not responded to our request for comment before deadline.
Labour Mid Scotland and Fife MSP Claire Baker said: “The resignation of Boris Johnson as Prime Minister is long overdue, but it will take more than a switch in Conservative leadership to secure the change we need to see.
“At the moment we are being failed by both the UK and Scottish Governments, with the disintegration of the Conservative leadership at Westminster and the blinkered obsession with independence at Holyrood doing little to serve the needs of the electorate.
“We need to see a focus on tackling the cost of living crisis and rebuilding services following the pandemic, and action to address the economic and social challenges that individuals and communities are facing across the country.
“Another Conservative Prime Minister will only continue the cycle of chaos and failure, we must see a Labour Government elected to deliver the change we need.”
Mid Scotland and Fife Green MSP Mark Ruskell said: “It’s a huge relief that Boris Johnson’s disastrous tenure as Prime Minister is coming to an end. But let’s not kid ourselves: Johnson was never fit to hold high office.
“Those in the Conservative Party who facilitated Johnson’s lying, his lawbreaking, and his incompetence must be held to account too.
“Suggestions that Johnson can remain in office until October are ridiculous. He needs to go, and he needs to go now.
“The people of Scotland never voted for Mr Johnson and they never voted for his ruinous Brexit.
“We will now put Scotland’s future in Scotland’s hands and give the people the choice to decide that never again will they be governed by a Tory regime that they had no hand in electing.”
Stirling MSP Evelyn Tweed MSP for Stirling said: “This is a long time coming and it’s good that we are hopefully about to see an end to this long running era of chaos, incompetence and lies that has surrounded Boris Johnson.
“But at a time when most people are struggling with the Tory cost of living crisis, the fact remains that Scotland deserves so much better.
“Removing Boris Johnson will not change the simple fact that a Westminster PM does not represent the values or beliefs of most people in Scotland and that Westminster is broken.
“There can be no doubt that the real and permanent alternative to Westminster for Scotland is independence.”
