Boris Johnson is 'unfit for office', says former Scottish Tory leader

22 January 2022, 20:48 | Updated: 22 January 2022, 20:53

Boris Johnson is "unfit for office", former Scottish Tory leader Ruth Davidson has said.

The baroness claimed that if she were still an MP, she would submit a letter of no confidence in the Prime Minister to the 1922 Committee - 54 of which are needed to trigger a vote on his leadership.

It comes as Mr Johnson is facing growing calls to step down from his role due to the ongoing partygate scandal, which is being investigated by senior civil servant Sue Gray.

Baroness Davidson told the Times that there is no "deep-rooted hatred" between herself and the PM, despite her being a vocal opponent of his Tory leadership bid as well as being against Brexit.

She said: "I didn't support him for the leadership and I believe what has been exposed to have happened in the last few weeks shows that he's unfit for office but, I mean, he's perfectly convivial company."

As well as anger over the lockdown parties, Baroness Davidson claimed some in the Tory party are tired of the "drama" coming from No10.

"I think one of the reasons that the Prime Minister is in such a perilous situation is not just because of the apparent rule-breaking, although that is a big part of it, but because there is a fatigue even within the party and certainly by my MP colleagues for the drama that has been emanating from No10," she said.

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'See it, say it, Sue Gray it.'

Current Scottish Conservative Leader Douglas Ross is among those to have spoken out against Mr Johnson after he confessed that he attended a Downing Street party in May 2020.

He has been joined by several MSPs in calling for the PM to resign following the revelation.

Mr Ross told STV News: "If the Prime Minister was there, and he accepted [earlier in the month] that he was then I felt he could not continue.

"What we also heard from the Prime Minister [before] was an apology and he said with hindsight he would have done things differently, which for me is an acceptance from the Prime Minister that it was wrong and therefore, I don't want to be in this position, but I am in this position now, where I don't think he can continue as leader of the Conservatives."

However, the PM has insisted that he believed the gathering to be a "work event".

He has urged MPs to await the findings of Ms Gray's investigation into the series of party allegations - which could come as early as next week - before sealing his fate.