BORIS Johnson has appointed Conservative backbencher Ross Thomson as his chief leadership campaign organiser in Scotland.

The 31-year-old MP for Aberdeen South is, senior party sources have told The Herald, currently under investigation by Kathryn Stone, the Parliamentary Standards Commissioner.

In February, Mr Thomson was accused of “sexual touching” in Strangers’ Bar in the Commons.

Police were called and the MP was escorted from the premises. Scotland Yard later said no formal complaint was lodged and no arrests were made.

In the same month, it was also reported that a Scottish MP made an official statement to Parliament’s sexual harassment hotline after Mr Thomson was alleged to have groped other men in the parliamentary bar. It is this claim which the standards watchdog is believed to be investigating.

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The backbencher, who referred himself to the Tories' internal disciplinary panel, has strenuously denied any wrongdoing, describing the claims against him as “completely false”.

The senior Conservative sources explained that the party could not undertake its own investigation into the allegation against the MP until the Westminster probe had been completed.

Last year, in the wake of the UK Parliament’s sexual harassment and bullying scandals, MPs voted that the commissioner no longer had to routinely publish information about her investigations until they were concluded.

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Mr Johnson has appointed his colleague as “chairman of the campaign in Scotland,” meaning that he will be responsible for co-ordinating MPs, MSPs, councillors and the ground campaign for the former Foreign Secretary.

The Aberdonian will also provide advice on policy for Scotland and will help co-ordinate campaign messages.

“It is a huge honour to have been asked to chair Boris’s leadership campaign in Scotland at a time of huge excitement and opportunity for our country,” declared Mr Thomson.

“Boris springs into this campaign with huge momentum, having won the support of over 50 per cent of Conservative MPs.

“He has demonstrated that he can bring MPs together across leave and remain lines. He will unify our party and our country.”

The backbencher insisted Mr Johnson was the only candidate in the leadership contest committed to delivering Brexit by October 31, which would restore trust in politics.

Mr Thomson stressed that strengthening the United Kingdom and Scotland’s place within it would be at the heart of Mr Johnson’s premiership.

“I’m looking forward to the upcoming campaign, to engaging with members and to making the positive case for why Boris Johnson can make us believe in ourselves again as a country, enable everyone to fulfil their potential and take part in the huge opportunities of this incredible country. Britain needs Boris,” he added.

It is understood that in May the Aberdeen MP helped organise a speech to local Conservatives in the city by Mr Johnson.

Last autumn, he berated Scottish colleagues after they instigated a Stop Johnson campaign dubbed “Operation Arse”. Mr Thomson, in turn, branded them “arseholes”.

In a blog in January, Mr Thomson wrote: “There is a political narrative that’s being perpetuated in Scotland by the Twitterati and the chattering classes that Boris isn’t quite right in Scotland or is just plain unpopular.

"It’s nonsense. Much like the mythical Loch Ness monster heard about often but wanting in hard evidence.”

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A poll at the weekend suggested support for independence would jump to 53 per cent if Mr Johnson became Prime Minister, giving the Yes campaign a six-point lead over the pro-Union campaign. It also found he had a popularity rating among Scottish voters of -37, a worse rating than the Brexit Party’s Nigel Farage.

Senior Scottish Tories have said a Johnson premiership would be disastrous for Scotland and the Union. One MP told The Herald frankly that it would “gift-wrap” independence for Nicola Sturgeon and her colleagues.

The First Minister has insisted that Scots would be “horrified” at the prospect of the London MP becoming PM, saying such a development would mean support for Scottish independence would “sky-rocket”.