BORIS Johnson’s victory in Monday’s vote of confidence has left a “dark shadow” over the Scottish Conservatives, the party’s chief whip has said.

Speaking to the BBC’s Good Morning Scotland, Stephen Kerr urged the Prime Minister to reflect on the result.

He also defended party leader Douglas Ross against accusations of flip-flopping, insisting that the Moray MP had been "consistent".  

Meanwhile, Mr Johnson's former campaign manager in Scotland warned that the Prime Minister would now struggle to "credibly lead a general election campaign" north of the border. 

Mr Johnson won by 211 votes to 148, a far tighter margin than predicted by even his harshest critics on the backbenches. 

READ MORE: Boris Johnson vows to stay in office after no confidence vote

The ballot was particularly bruising for the Scottish Tories. Out of the party’s six MPs from constituencies north of the border, four voted against the Prime Minister, including Mr Ross. 

Only Secretary of State for Scotland, Alister Jack, and Banff and Buchan MP David Duguid supported Mr Johnson. 

Mr Kerr told the BBC: “I think what we saw last night in the vote, 148 expressing their lack of confidence in the Prime Minister, is simply a reflection of the deep anger that is felt across the country and particularly within the Conservative Party about the disclosures of the last few months. 

“The Prime Minister now needs to reflect very carefully on this result.”

The MSP added that “politically, undoubtedly, he is damaged” by the outcome of the vote, but said he could not predict how long the Prime Minister will remain in his position.

He added that the results are “not good for the Conservative Party in general”.

“The government’s trying to do some very good and worthy things, and this whole issue of the Prime Minister’s leadership is like a dark shadow over all of the good things that the government is doing,” Mr Kerr said.

The Tory MSP was asked why Mr Ross had decided to vote against Mr Johnson last night at such a late stage.

The party leader was accused of "flip-flopping" by political rivals after he performed another U-turn over Boris Johnson's leadership.

READ MORE: Douglas Ross calls for Boris Johnson to quit

In January he was one of the first Tories to call for the Prime Minister to stand down over the Downing Street Partygate row. 

But in March, shortly after Russia's invasion of Ukraine, he said the debate around Mr Johnson's leadership 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 warned that getting rid of Mr Johnson could “destabilise” the country which would have an impact on the support being offered to Kyiv. 

However, last night, Mr Ross voted against the Prime Minister, saying he "cannot in good faith support Boris Johnson."

Mr Kerr said: "Douglas has been consistent in terms of the principle."

Host, Laura Maxwell, asked the Tory to define consistent. 

“He's been anything but consistent,” she said. "He said he put a letter in then he took a letter out, then he didn't put a letter in and waited till other people did that.

"Then he voted against the Prime Minister. Where's the consistency?"

Mr Kerr said: "I can understand why you say that, but in truth he has been completely consistent with the principle.

"He made it clear from the outset that he had huge doubts about the conduct of the prime minister, he said that from the very beginning.

"It was only when circumstances changed with the Russian invasion of Ukraine that he said, 'look, there are some things right now that we need to set aside we'll come back to them.'"

"He wasn't alone in this, Keir Starmer himself said the same thing,” Kerr added. 

“This was a moment when Russia invaded Ukraine and Kyiv was threatened, it was a time for us to concentrate our efforts to support the Ukrainian people, and Douglas was clear on that." 

Former Scottish Tory MP Ross Thomson called on the Prime Minister to start building bridges with colleagues in Scotland. 

Mr Thomson - who was Mr Johnson's campaign manager in Scotland during the 2019 leadership contest - said the Prime Minister was "wounded". 

He said: "Yesterday’s vote is not as decisive as PM allies hope. It was a narrower win that what Theresa May achieved in 2018. A result that back then Boris didn’t think was convincing. From experience, those who think “a win is a win, now let’s move on” will be sorely disappointed.

 

"Rebel MPs will feel emboldened by last night’s result. The PM is wounded and like sharks detecting a drop of blood in the water they’ll go into a frenzy over the coming weeks with poor by-election results, attempts to change 1922 committee rules and resignations.

 

"With the Parliamentary party split almost in half with 41% of MPs wanting the PM to go it will make the party pretty much ungovernable and undisciplined.

"From now until summer recess in July a rebellious party is going to be a whips nightmare.

"The PM has an even greater headache in Scotland with 4 out of 6 Scottish Tory MPs voting against him.

"Bearing in mind that one of the two supporting him sits in the cabinet. If the PM is to credibly lead a GE campaign in Scotland he needs to start building bridges now.

 

"The Boris I know is a fighter. Eternally optimistic. Energetic. He’s someone who likes to be liked, don’t we all, so the 148 votes against him will sting. However, If anyone thinks a line has now been drawn by yesterday’s #ConfidenceVote, they’re kidding themselves."