A confidence vote in the Prime Minister has been scheduled for Monday evening.
06 June 2022
Scottish Secretary Alister Jack has said he will support the Prime Minister in a confidence vote.
The threshold of 54 MPs submitting letters to the backbench 1922 Committee to force a vote on Boris Johnson’s leadership was passed on Sunday, chairman Graham Brady said.
With a secret ballot of MPs scheduled for Monday evening, ministers and other MPs have been voicing their support for Mr Johnson as pressure continues to mount in the wake of the Sue Gray report.
Mr Jack, unlike others in the Scottish Tories, has been steadfastly behind the Prime Minister throughout his tenure.
“The Prime Minister has my full support, and I will be voting to back him tonight,” he said on Monday.
“He is showing tremendous leadership as we face major challenges at home and abroad.
“I have no doubt that my colleagues in the Parliamentary party will vote to show their confidence in the Prime Minister.”
The spotlight now falls on Scottish Tory leader Douglas Ross, who was among the most senior Tories calling for the Prime Minister’s resignation at the turn of the year when reports of parties in Downing Street during lockdown surfaced.
Jesse Norman is not just a thoughtful and considered man, but he’s also a loyal and supportive one. It will have pained him to write this. But, my God, how right he is. https://t.co/o5BgX9LI9u
— Ruth Davidson (@RuthDavidsonPC) June 6, 2022
Mr Ross eventually reversed course, citing the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the need for stability at the top of government to deal with the situation.
Meanwhile, one of Mr Ross’s predecessors, Ruth Davidson, shared a letter by Tory MP Jesse Norman to the PM, stressing “how right (Mr Norman) is”.
In the correspondence sent directly to Mr Johnson, the MP described the plan to send some asylum seekers to Rwanda as “ugly”, plans to change the Northern Ireland protocol as “economically very damaging, politically foolhardy and almost certainly illegal” and accused the Prime Minister of presiding “over a culture of casual law-breaking”.
