FORMER Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson has called on Boris Johnson to resign.
In a tweet, the peer said the Prime Minister had "lost the moral authority to lead."
The statement puts her at odds with successor Douglas Ross who has said the war in Ukraine means now is not the time for Mr Johnson to be removed from office.
The two are due to hit the campaign trail tomorrow ahead of May's local government elections.
Baroness Davidson is so far the most senior Tory to call on the Prime Minister to quit over the partygate fines.
Her statement came as the Metropolitan Police confirmed that the fixed penalty notices for Mr Johnson and Rishi Sunak related to the Prime Minister's birthday party in Downing Street on June 19 2020.
Ms Davidson – who was appointed to the House of Lords by the Prime Minister - said: “Met confirms what we already knew: the PM introduced liberty-curtailing rules for public health reasons.
“This caused huge hardship for those separated from ill or dying loved ones.
“He then broke the rules he imposed on the country & lost the moral authority to lead.
“He should go.”
Mr Ross said Mr Johnson's removal would “destabilise” the country as it tries to deal with the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
“The public are rightly furious at what happened in Downing Street during the pandemic,” he said in a statement.
“I understand why they are angry and share their fury. The behaviour was unacceptable. The Prime Minister now needs to respond to these fines being issued.
“However, as I’ve made very clear, in the middle of war in Europe, when Vladimir Putin is committing war crimes and the UK is Ukraine’s biggest ally, as President Zelensky said at the weekend, it wouldn’t be right to remove the Prime Minister at this time.
“It would destabilise the UK Government when we need to be united in the face of Russian aggression and the murdering of innocent Ukrainians.”
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