Scottish Conservative Leader Douglas Ross was accused of "doing a donut" after he performed another U-turn over Boris Johnson's leadership.
In a statement released on Monday afternoon, he said he will vote against the Prime Minister in tonight's vote of no confidence, saying he "cannot in good faith support Boris Johnson."
That takes him back to where he was in January when he was one of the first in the party to call for the Prime Minister to stand down over the Downing Street Partygate row.
The MP for Moray even submitted a letter of no confidence to the 1922 committee of backbench Tory MPs.
He said Mr Johnson's position was “no longer tenable” after the Prime Minister admitted attending a drinks event during lockdown.
But in March, shortly after Russia's invasion of Ukraine, he withdrew his letter and said the debate around Partygate should be put “on pause” while there is “war in Europe.”
Last month, following the publication of the Sue Gray report, Mr Ross said the Prime Minister should leave No 10 when the war in Ukraine was over.
He said that getting rid of Mr Johnson could “destabilise” the country which would have an impact on the support being offered to Kyiv.
However, in today's statement, Mr Ross said he could no longer support Mr Johnson.
Having listened closely to people in Moray who re-elected me and people across Scotland, tonight I will support the motion of no confidence in the Prime Minister. pic.twitter.com/YXE0rEyvsn
— Douglas Ross MP MSP (@Douglas4Moray) June 6, 2022
Mr Ross said: “While war in Europe continues and the UK Government is providing such strong support to President Zelenskyy and the people of Ukraine, the timing of this vote is far from ideal.
“However, while I’ve not sought to bring this vote about at this time, it is now going ahead tonight, and I’ve had to consider how to vote on behalf of my constituents and the country.
“I do so knowing there are vocal opinions on both sides of this argument, an argument that has dominated much of the political discussion for many months.
“The Prime Minister can be proud of many of the successes his government have led on, particularly the Covid vaccine and the furlough scheme.
“However, I have heard loud and clear the anger at the breaking of Covid rules that we all did our best to follow, and even more so at the statements to Parliament from the Prime Minister on this topic.
“Having listened closely to people in Moray who re-elected me to represent them, and from many people across Scotland, now that this confidence vote is upon us, I cannot in good faith support Boris Johnson. My vote tonight will support the motion of no confidence.”
Mr Ross was mocked by political rivals.
Labour leader Anas Sarwar tweeted: "I’ve heard of politicians doing U-turns. This one does donuts…"
I’ve heard of politicians doing U-turns. This one does donuts… https://t.co/61Iz7CqKwA pic.twitter.com/z0aK1o2E87
— Anas Sarwar (@AnasSarwar) June 6, 2022
There was support from some of his party colleagues.
MSP Jamie Greene tweeted: "In my 6 short years in politics not just as a Conservative & Unionist but as an elected Member of any party per se, I know how difficult it is to contemplate breaking a whip or removing leadership support.
"Sometimes you just have to follow your conscience. Made easier when secret."
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel