The Scottish Conservatives will not be inviting Boris Johnson is to take part in their general election campaign, The Herald can reveal. 

It was reported today that the former prime minister is likely be deployed in the north of England and the Midlands as the Tories seek to win back the voters who helped Johnson to an 80-seat majority in 2019.

However, it is understood he is not expected to be welcomed north of the Border by the Scottish Conservatives.

"Given Boris Johnson is no longer even an MP, any decision for him to campaign in Scotland whenever a General Election occurs would be entirely of his own making," a source told The Herald.

It emerged in January that former first first minister Nicola Sturgeon had described Mr Johnson as a "f***ing clown" over what she saw as his handling of the pandemic.

The comment was made in a WhatsApp exchange with her chief of staff Liz Lloyd in October 2020 and was made public at a hearing in Edinburgh of the UK Covid inquiry.

In the conversation she told Ms Lloyd that "his utter incompetence in every sense is now offending me on behalf of politicians everywhere," and went on to say: "He's a f***ing clown."

Mr Johnson was regarded by the SNP as a "recruiting sergeant" for the independence cause and just ahead of announcing his resignation as Prime Minister in July 2022 had all time low poll ratings north of the Border.

Ipsos’ Scottish Political Monitor found 83% of those polled were dissatisfied with his performance with just 12% satisfied.

Scottish Conservative leader Douglas Ross was among the first Tory MP to call for Mr Johnson to go amid the partygate scandal.

However, Scottish Secretary Alister Jack was one of the few ministers to remain loyal and did not call for Mr Johnson's resignation.

Mr Johnson was succeeded by Liz Truss in September 2022 before being ousted by Tory MPs the following month and replaced by Mr Sunak

Mr Johnson accused Mr Sunak of betrayal after he was forced out of Downing Street and the two men fell out further last year over Mr Johnson’s resignation honours list.

However, a report in The Times today said relations have improved since after talks between Mr Johnson’s team and No 10. 

Mr Johnson's allies and senior government sources confirmed to the paper that the former prime minister was expected to play a significant role in the general election campaign.

They said he was likely to visit marginal constituencies, make speeches and appear on leaflets. “If there is a way he can help that is right for him and for the party he will,” a source familiar with Mr Johnson’s thinking said.

“Sunak will of course be front and centre but he [Johnson] always wanted to take the fight to [Keir] Starmer. Just as he has always supported the Conservative Party he will do so now.”

Mr Sunak suffered a blow on Monday after Lee Anderson, a former deputy chairman of the Conservative Party, defected to Reform UK.  Mr Anderson was one of the most well-known red wall Tory MPs before he was suspended for saying that Islamists had “got control” of Sadiq Khan, the Labour mayor of London. There are now concerns that other Tory MPs could defect and join Mr Anderson.

Mr Johnson quit parliament after an investigation found that he deliberately and recklessly misled the Commons over the Downing Street parties during Covid lockdowns.

The privileges committee said that he would have been suspended for 90 days for “repeated contempts and seeking to undermine the parliamentary process”.

Mr Johnson is working on his political memoirs. There had been suggestions that they could be published before the general election campaign, which would create a significant headache for Mr Sunak. They are now expected at the end of the year or early next year.