BORIS Johnson has appointed a former Scottish Tory MP as a special adviser on issues relating to the Union.
Luke Graham, who lost his Ochil and South Perthshire seat at the General Election, takes up the post in the Cabinet Office under the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster Michael Gove.
He was defeated by the SNP's John Nicholson amid a slump in support for Johnson's party in Scotland at the December poll.
Graham, who was elected in 2017, was one of seven Scottish Tories who lost their Westminster seats.
Meanwhile, it has also emerged Gove has written to the elections watchdog following a request from the First Minister to test a question in a new independence referendum.
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In a letter to the Electoral Commission, seen by The Telegraph, he claimed the Scottish Government was attempting to trigger a "re-testing" of the 2014 referendum question to persuade party members that a poll is imminent.
Writing to Sir John Holmes, the chairman of the Electoral Commission, Gove said: "The Electoral Commission of course has an important role in testing the suitability of referendum questions where there is a referendum in prospect.
"However, there is no lawful referendum on Scottish independence in prospect and in view of that, I believe the Scottish Government’s request to you represents a poor use of time, resource and public money and is an exercise designed to persuade Scottish National Party members that a referendum is imminent."
Nicola Sturgeon announced in January that she was asking the Electoral Commission to formally "re-test" the question, "should Scotland be an independent country?"
The intervention followed the Prime Minister's rejection of the Scottish Government's call for a second referendum.
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