BORIS Johnson should resign over the partygate scandals, most Scottish voters believe.
An exclusive poll conducted for The Herald by BMG research found that the views of voters remain relatively unchanged over the saga, despite the UK Government’s rhetoric that the world has moved on due to the war in Ukraine.
Pollsters asked 1012 Scots aged over the age of 16 about whether they believed the Prime Minister should quit over the allegations of parties and gatherings taking place across Whitehall and in No.10 during lockdown.
Surveyed last week, just 20 per cent said they believed he should stay compared to 67% who thought he should quit.
The remaining 13% said they were undecided or didn’t have a view on the matter.
In January this year, when allegations of parties were still emerging, 66% of UK voters thought he should quit.
It comes after senior government ministers said they believed the issue was no longer significant, with Jacob Rees-Mogg describing it as “fluff” and “fundamentally trivial”.
The Metropolitan police have issued 20 fines over several parties, including one held in No.10 while the PM was away.
READ MORE: Fines issued for bash on eve of Prince Philip's funeral
Welsh Secretary Simon Hart MP said earlier this week that the “world has moved on a considerable distance” since the scandal erupted, insisting people did not want the PM to resign.
The findings of the Herald poll appear to contradict his comments.
He told journalists on Monday that the “vast majority” of people “want contrition and they want an apology. But they don't want a resignation."
Shadow Scottish Secretary Ian Murray MP said: “Boris Johnson is not fit to be Prime Minister and this damning poll shows that the overwhelming majority of people agree.
"He treated the public with utter contempt, partying while people across the country made unprecedented sacrifices.
"This despicable scandal has made it clearer than ever that Tories are not good enough to lead the UK and not strong enough to stand up to the SNP.
"It is not enough just to oppose the Tories – we need to replace them, and only Labour can do that."
Kirsten Oswald MP, the SNP's Westminster Deputy leader, added: “Despite Boris Johnson's desperate attempts, the reality is his excuses were fooling no one.
"The public know Boris Johnson and his Tory colleagues brazenly broke the rules which they expected everyone else to follow, and it's beyond any doubt - as this poll highlights - that for once he should do the right thing and resign.
“With fines now being issued for the rule-breaking in Downing Street, the public will rightly want answers and accountability. It is vital that there is transparency in this ongoing investigation and that must involve full disclosure of precisely who, among ministers and senior civil servants, is being fined for breaking the law."
Robert Struthers, Head of Polling at BMG added that the findings showed the Prime Minister was "simply deeply unpopular" with Scottish voters.
He said: "With the Scottish public’s view of politicians being generally negative, you would expect a substantial number to say any politician should resign if given the chance.
“However, with as many as 7 in 10 Scots saying the Prime Minister should lose his job over the partygate scandal, our poll certainly underscores the overwhelming strength of feeling against Johnson, despite the scandal understandably receiving less coverage in recent weeks.
“The fact that around two-thirds of those who voted Scottish Tory in the last election do not view partygate as a resigning matter offer some comfort to the Prime Minister. However, this still leaves 1 in 4 Scots who backed Johnson at the last election believing he should now walk away.
“More broadly, the numbers highlight that Johnson is quite simply deeply unpopular north of the border.
“With a net satisfaction score of -53% among the Scottish public, the Prime Minister is the least popular senior politician that we polled by some distance.
“The Prime Minister is less popular than all the respective Scottish party leaders and compares much less favourably to Nicola Sturgeon who has a net positive rating of +15%."
No.10 was approached for comment but did not respond.
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