Tory leader reveals new baby news while quizzed on Johnson

Douglas Ross, the leader of the S cottish Conser vatives, has revealed he and his wife are expecting a second child as he was asked about B oris Johnson’s lack of transparency about his children.

Speaking on Times R adio, Mr Ross was asked to respond to a series of critical descrip - tions of the Prime Minister from a focus group of former No voters, with many calling him a “lunatic” and “untrustworthy”.

T w o m a l e r e s p o n d e n t s raised the issue of Mr Johnson’s family – “he won’t even tell the truth about how many children he's fathered” – while another said, “I think if you’re going to look at someone you should look at family values, and he’s had mistresses and wives and I’ve heard eight kids, it's just a mess”.

Mr R o s s r e p l i e d : “I ’d l i k e to use this opportunity to be very clear that my wife [Krystle] and I just had our second scan and are exp ecting our second child in June, just to make sure that figure is out there and confirm I’m not trying to hide anything.

“The Prime Minister is not immune to criticism people make of his leadership and his style, but the continuance of the United Kingdom should not be based on people’s opini o n o f o n e p o l i t i c i a n . T h e union is bigger than people’s views on one politician.”

H e a d d e d : “S o m e p e o p l e like him, some people don't, that's the nature of p olitics. But he’s the Prime Minister of the whole country and is passionate about the UK remaining as a strong union of four nations.”

H o w e v e r, M r R o s s a l s o move d t o d i s t a n c e h i ms e l f from the Prime Minister and his policies during the interview, adding: “I am the leader of the S cottish Conser vatives. It’s a very separate entity from the UK Conser vative Party, and I think that's right.

“Some people seem to think it’s strange I can disagree with t h e P r i me Mi n i s te r o r t a ke different positions to the UK party, but I think that’s healthy. I’ve voted against the government and I’ve always been my own man. We’re not robots, we s h o u l d n’t a l w a y s v o t e t h e same way.”

Mr Ross was also quizzed about a string of opinion polls wh i c h h a s p u t s u p p o r t f o r independence ahead.

“People who think independence is inevitable simply play into the nationalists’ hands,” h e s a i d . "I d o n’t u n d e r e s t i - mate the challenge we face, but it’s a fight I’m passionate about.”