Tory leadership: Ruth Davidson’s authority ‘shredded’ over colleagues’ backing of Boris

Scottish Conservatives leader Ruth Davidson faces her authority “being shredded by the day” as more of her party colleagues back Boris Johnson for Prime Minister and support a no-deal Brexit, an MSP has claimed.

Boris Johnson. Picture: John Devlin

Johnson has pledged to take Scotland and the rest of the UK out of the European Union by 31 October “deal or no deal” and “do or die”.

Four Scottish Tory MPs – Ross Thomson, Colin Clark, Douglas Ross and Andrew Bowie – are now officially backing Johnson, and three MSPs – Michelle Ballantyne, Margaret Mitchell and Oliver Mundell – have said they’ll vote for him to be the next Prime Minister.

SNP MSP George Adam said: “Ruth Davidson’s authority is being shredded by the day as more and more of her colleagues ignore her and lend their backing to Boris Johnson, and to a no-deal Brexit that would be a disaster for Scotland.

“We know that a no-deal Brexit pursued by Boris Johnson would be an utter catastrophe for Scotland – putting up to 100,000 jobs at risk and costing every person up to £2,300 a year – yet that’s exactly where we are headed.”

Michelle Ballantyne previously said there’s a recognition that Boris Johnson “wouldn’t play well in Scotland” but is now backing Johnson for Tory leader.

Other Tories who warned of “adverse consequences” of no-deal and described the prospect as “far from satisfactory” have also fallen into line behind Johnson.