As the Foreign Secretary warns an invasion of Ukraine by Russia could be ‘imminent’, Boris Johnson has been spending the day on a ‘Levelling Up’ tour in a bid to get his premiership back on track. The stops include both the North of England and Scotland. For the latter part, the Prime Minister today visited Rosyth Dockyard where new Royal Navy warships are under construction.
Only Johnson cut a rather lonely figure — with no Scottish Conservatives coming out to meet him. While his long time ally Alister Jack, the Scottish Secretary, is simply away so unable to join, for others it appears to be more personal. The leader of the Scottish Conservatives Douglas Ross was absent today. He was one of the first to call for Johnson to go in the wake of partygate. His calls were echoed by the bulk of Scottish Tory MSPs.
Scotland Office minister Ian Stewart has said that the lack of meeting between Ross and Johnson is simply down to diary commitments. But there has been little love lost between the pair for sometime. Johnson’s aides have complained in the past that Ross is overly critical of the Prime Minister when they ought to be united. Since Ross called for Johnson to go, things have gone from bad to worse — with Jacob Rees-Mogg suggesting he is ‘a lightweight figure’. Relations appear to have warmed slightly with Johnson to be invited to at least address the Scottish Conservative conference in Aberdeen next month.
However, the risk of today’s visit, is that Johnson’s attempt at a charm offensive of Scottish voters has simply reminded the public that when it comes to his own party north of the border, few are willing to come out to bat for him — let alone say he should remain in post.
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