MP 'won't lose job' if Tories win

Published on Sunday 18 October 2009 23:10

CONSERVATIVE shadow Scottish Secretary David Mundell has brushed aside claims he could lose his post if the Tories win power.

Senior Conservatives reportedly wanted party leader David Cameron to avoid appointing him as Scottish Secretary, fearing that he would be no match for First Minister Alex Salmond.

One alternative thought to be under consideration was to make a Tory MSP a peer, in order to fill the post from the Lords.

But asked whether he sensed a plot was afoot, Mr Mundell – the sole Conservative MP in Scotland at present – said: "No."

He said claims showed that there was a belief in a Tory election victory.

"But if there is, it is up to David Cameron to decide who does what," he said.

"I'm getting on at the moment with the job that is important to me, and that is ensuring that there is a Conservative Government so that we do have a Conservative Secretary of State for Scotland," he said.

But opposition parties seized on the claim.

John Mason, SNP MP for Glasgow East, said: "Only the Scottish Tories could find themselves in the utterly ridiculous position of having a split when they only have one single MP north of the border."

And Russell Brown, Labour MP for Dumfries, said: "It is a tacit admission that they are not expecting gains in Scotland and don't even have confidence in their own candidates."