BORIS Johnson will appear in person at the Scottish Conservative conference this month despite the party’s leader and many senior figures calling for his resignation over the partygate scandal.
It had been expected that the Prime Minister would appear via videolink for the March event, after it was initially floated that he’d be banned from the gathering altogether.
But with Douglas Ross and his MSPs falling silent on their previous calls for Johnson to step down, it has been confirmed by a spokesperson that the Tory chief will come to the conference and speak about the invasion of Ukraine.
A Scottish Conservative spokesperson said: “We welcome the Prime Minister appearing in person to speak about the war in Ukraine at Scottish Conservative conference.”
READ MORE: Ian Blackford brands reports he's set to quit SNP chief role as 'total crap'
The conference is scheduled to take place at Aberdeen’s P&J Live on Saturday, March 19.
Just a few weeks ago, the Scottish Tory leader was accused of performing a “humiliating climbdown” over his call for Johnson to resign.
The SNP’s Pete Wishart said the backtracking showed that the Scottish Tories are “nothing more than a branch office under the control of Tory HQ”.
Things had been awkward between the UK and Scottish sections of the party after Ross told Johnson to resign, with Jacob Rees-Mogg stepping in to call the Moray MP a “lightweight” political figure and Michael Gove making a disparaging comment about him being up “in Elgin” while Johnson was in London, making decisions on behalf of the whole UK.
While Ross had the public backing of the vast majority of Conservative MSPs in his call for the Prime Minister to go, not one of his five MPs bothered to speak out.
Since then, the outrage over Downing Street parties held while Covid restrictions were in place has subsided given the media focus on Russia’s bloody invasion of Ukraine.
Party leaders have been united in their condemnation of Putin’s actions and few have faced questions on domestic politics, or intra-party dramas.
The SNP's Westminster depute leader Kirsten Oswald MP commented on the latest Johnson news, saying: "This is a major blow to Douglas Ross's credibility and authority as Scottish Conservative leader – he has been humiliated and left to look utterly ridiculous.
"It beggars belief that Boris Johnson and Douglas Ross both believe they can remain in office and work constructively given everything that has happened in recent months.
"If Boris Johnson refuses to do the right thing and resign, then people will rightly question Douglas Ross's position."
Meanwhile, Nicola Sturgeon's spokesperson said: "It's embarrassing, bordering on humiliating, for Douglas Ross that the Prime Minister that just a few weeks ago he said should be drummed out of office is now apparently going to be welcomed to the Scottish Conservative conference."
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