A SCOTTISH Tory MP has warned his party cannot carry on as if it’s “business as usual” after suffering two humiliating by-election defeats.
The Liberal Democrats overturned a huge Conservative majority to win the Tiverton and Honiton seat in Devon, while Labour retook Wakefield in West Yorkshire.
Andrew Bowie, the MP for West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine, has admitted his party had a “very difficult night”.
He was one of four Scottish Tory MPs to vote against Boris Johnson in a vote of confidence earlier this month, which the Prime Minister survived.
The MP said he would still vote against Mr Johnson is another vote of no confidence was held.
READ MORE: Oliver Dowden: Tory chair resigns after Conservatives lose two by-elections
Mr Bowie’s comments echo those of Oliver Dowden, the party’s co-chair, who resigned today following the by-election defeats.
It follows months of criticism of Mr Johnson after he was issued with a fixed-penalty notice for his involvement in Downing Street parties during coronavirus lockdowns.
Mr Johnson, speaking in Rwanda on Friday, has said he will “keep going” as leader despite the results.
Speaking to BBC Radio Scotland’s Good Morning Scotland programme, Mr Bowie said he would vote against the Prime Minister again if presented with a choice – but he stressed the country needs to focus on the “big issues”.
He said: “I made my feelings quite clear only two weeks ago in the vote of confidence when I voted that I had no confidence in the current leadership of the Conservative Party.
READ MORE: Boris Johnson suffers double by-election humiliation
“I do believe that we shouldn’t be naval gazing and worrying about who is the current leader and we do need to be focusing on the big issues facing the country, such as the cost-of-living situation and supporting the government of Ukraine.
“But no, I don’t think we can carry on as if it’s business as usual.”
When asked what MPs should do about their lack of faith in Mr Johnson, he replied: “I think that is for others to be discussing this morning.”
However, he said voters had made their opinions clear in the by-elections and many MPs and party members will now be “discussing amongst ourselves how we move forward”.
He added: “I’ve been in this game long enough to know that predicting anything is a fool’s game.
“I wouldn’t want to hazard a guess what is going to happen in the next hour, let alone the next day or the next week or month.”
Asked about his position if presented with another vote of no confidence in the PM, Mr Bowie said: “If the question was put again I wouldn’t be changing my position, no.”
Mr Johnson survived the no confidence vote on June 6 with the backing of 211 Tory MPs, while 148 voted against him.
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