DOUGLAS Ross has said he won't stand down as Scottish Conservative leader if his party slumps into third place at the council elections next month.
The Scottish Tory chief was pressed on his position in the role by the Herald during a campaign visit near Glasgow this afternoon.
In the last council elections in 2017 the Tories ousted Labour as the second largest party in local government behind the SNP, winning 164 more seats and claiming ones in wards long held by Labour.
But a survey by a top pollster earlier this month suggested the Tories' position as the “voice of unionism” in Scotland is under threat at the May 5 poll and they could lose their second place position.
READ MORE: Douglas Ross blasts Tory MP over Basic Instinct slur
Research published by Survation put Labour five points ahead of the Conservatives in an advantage that would suggest Anas Sarwar’s party is on track to become the main opponent to the SNP were it to be replicated at the elections.
And last weekend one former Tory strategist said time was running out for Ross’s leadership because his stance over the Downing Street parties scandal is “less and less credible”.
Boris Johnson and Douglas Ross visited Diageo's Roseisle Distillery near Elgin in 2019
Ross was the first senior Tory to call for Boris Johnson to quit over the lockdown parties. Last month Ross changed his mind and said it would “destabilise the government when we need to be united in the face of Russian aggression”.
Andy Maciver, a PR executive and former head of communications for the Scottish Conservatives, said on Sunday Ross’s position was growing weaker.
The Herald asked if Mr Ross if would resign from his role as Scottish Tory leader should his party move from second to third place in local government after May 5, he said he would not.
READ MORE: Ex MSP Ben Wallace is most popular Tory Cabinet minister and Sunak the least
"No, and I am absolutely determined to get a good result for the Scottish Conservatives. We saw in the run up to the Holyrood election last year, a number of polls predicted that the Conservatives would go into third place and actually the opposite happened," he said during a visit to the Leading Edge Flight Training School near Glasgow Airport.
"We maintained second place, increased our votes by over 100,000 and at the same time Labour went backwards under Anas Sarwar and got their worst ever result in Scotland. They lost seats and they lost votes.
"So I am very committed to ensuring that we deliver a really strong result in just over a week's time, because we have got some outstanding candidates and some outstanding councillors who had made a real impact of their local areas."
He was then asked if the Conservatives do move into third place, whether that would be his fault or the Prime Minister's.
"The opinion polls suggested a different outcome than we ultimately achieved less than a year ago," he said.
READ MORE: How Sarwar's 'no deal with the SNP' may back fire on Labour
Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar has said his party will not form any council coalitions with the SNP after May 5.
However, Labour have been in governing coalitions with the SNP in six council areas in Scotland since the last local elections in 2017, including Edinburgh and in Dumfries and Galloway.
"Anas Sarwar has been quite happy since he has been [Labour] leader for Labour councillors to work with SNP councillors. So voting Labour will prop up the SNP in council chambers up and down Scotland - and that's not a message I think pro-UK voters want," he said.
"So if people want to elect strong local champions they should vote for the Scottish Conservatives and if people want to support a party that will always be the strongest voice for Scotland's place in United Kingdom, they should vote for the Scottish Conservatives, because they know Labour are weak on the Union. And I really worry that Labour are going to betray Unionist voters by entering into coalitions with the SNP all over again straight after the election on 5 May."
During the interview with the Herald Mr Ross insisted he did not regret changing his mind over submitting a letter of no confidence in the Prime Minister over the Partygate scandal to the 1922 committee of backbench Conservative MPs.
The Moray MP has faced criticism for 'flip flopping' on the matter and looking weak.
"I understand why political opponents, others would say that. The easiest decision for me would be to keep the letter in without any shadow of doubt," he said.
"I wouldn't have any difficult questions to answer. It would have been very straightforward. People have to ask why didn't he take the easy option, and the reason is because I look at the situation in Ukraine and - I understand some say you've changed prime ministers in the past during periods of war and that is correct - but the system of electing leaders of the Conservative party was different then. It now takes several months."
Last week Johnson was fined - along with his wife Carrie Johnson and the Chancellor Rishi Sunak - for breaking Covid laws by attending an event in Downing Street to celebrate his birthday. So far the police have announced they have issued at least 50 fines as part of their investigation.
It was announced last week the PM will be investigated by a Commons committee over claims he misled Parliament about parties in Downing Street during lockdown. MPs approved the Privileges Committee launching an inquiry.
Mr Ross said that it was his understanding that if the PM was found to have misled Parliament the Privileges Committee could hand out a punishment, which could include suspension from the Commons.
"And there is absolutely no way it would be acceptable for someone to have been found to have misled Parliament, to have received a punishment of whatever sanction from the Privileges Committee to continue as leader of the party or Prime Minister," he added.
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