Boris Johnson is coming to Scotland for his first visit since 'partygate' scandal
The Prime Minister is on a levelling up tour of the UK
Last updated 13th Feb 2022
Boris Johnson is set to visit Scotland for his first trip across the border since Scottish Tory leader called for the Prime Minister’s resignation in the wake of the ‘partygate’ scandal.
No 10 said he will start the week with a visit to a manufacturing site in Scotland before heading to an oncology centre tackling coronavirus backlogs in the North West of England, and is expected to tout his shake-up of Downing Street staff as helping to focus on his "levelling up" policy
It follows confirmation he will be invited to address the Scottish Conservative conference in Aberdeen in March.
It is happening the same time as the UK spring conference in Blackpool, meaning Mr Johnson may address the Scottish gathering virtually.
A Scottish Conservatives spokesman said: "The Prime Minister will be invited to address party conference, just as has been the case in any other year."
Douglas Ross jibe
Mr Ross was among the Tory MPs who wrote to the 1922 Committee chairman Sir Graham Brady seeking to trigger a no confidence vote.
The move prompted Jacob Rees-Mogg, then the leader of the House, to called the head of the Scottish Conservatives a "lightweight".
READ MORE: Douglas Ross shakes off Rees-Mogg put down
However, Scottish Secretary Alister Jack said Mr Ross had his "full backing".
Speaking in the House of Commons last week, Mr Jack said: "Douglas Ross absolutely is the leader of the Scottish Conservatives, he is put there by the membership because we're a constitutionally devolved organisation, he's doing a very good job, he holds Nicola Sturgeon to account and he has my full backing."
Fifteen Tory MPs have publicly called for Mr Johnson to quit, while more are thought to have privately written to the 1922 Committee of backbench Tories calling for a no-confidence vote.
More are poised to do so if the Prime Minister is found to have broken his own coronavirus laws, or further damaging details emerge from the Sue Gray inquiry.
He will face a vote of no confidence if 54 Conservative MPs write to 1922 Committee chairman Sir Graham Brady, and would be ousted if more than half of his MPs subsequently voted against him.
Levelling up tour
The PM insists he is"getting on with the job" while facing questions from police investigating alleged lockdown breaches.
Mr Johnson has seven days to answer a legal questionnaire from Scotland Yard officers investigating whether he broke his own Covid laws.
He said: "I'm getting out of London this week and taking a simple message with me - this Government is getting on with the job of uniting and levelling up the country.
"Access to good healthcare, a good education, skilled work, reliable transport - none of this should depend on where you live. We're changing the rules of the game to put fairness back at the heart of the system and focusing on the priorities that really matter to people.
"This is our mission and we're getting on with delivering it."