RUTH’S ULTIMATUM
÷Boris ‘must prove’ he can deliver for Scotland ÷But she vows to speak out if he gets it wrong
BORIS Johnson has an ‘enormous’ task ahead and must prove he can deliver for Scotland and the Union, Ruth Davidson said yesterday.
In a lukewarm message, the Scottish Tory leader congratulated the former foreign secretary on his victory in the leadership contest – but vowed to continue to criticise him when required.
Miss Davidson demanded he delivers for Scotland and stops Nicola Sturgeon from holding a second independence referendum.
She also urged Mr Johnson to ensure he has the right team around him, and backed David Mundell to remain Scottish Secretary.
Miss Davidson, who supported three of Mr Johnson’s leadership rivals, will not be disrupting a family holiday in England to meet him this week, although she has spoken to the new party leader on the phone.
She said: ‘Mr Johnson takes over the leadership at an incredibly challenging time for our country, and he has an enormous task ahead of him. My priority as Scothe tish Conservative leader is to ensure that he will deliver for Scotland within the UK, stop Nicola Sturgeon’s efforts to take us back to a second independence referendum and prevent Jeremy Corbyn from getting to No 10.’
She later told the BBC: ‘It’s no news to anybody that I didn’t vote for him but he won fair and square and has an enormous task ahead of him. I hope he appoints a good team to help him with that task.’
The Scottish Tory leader said Mr Johnson has ‘not got his troubles to seek’, including getting a Brexit deal over the line, but said she will not support a no-deal exit at the end of October.
Miss Davidson added: ‘I’ve been a critic of Boris Johnson when our ideas have differed and when I have thought our ideas have differed and I will continue to be so.
‘However, he is Prime Minister, has won it fair and square, and I think most fair-minded Scots across the country will judge his premiership by his actions in office, as I will, so I want to see what he does as Prime Minister.’
She demanded he follows through on his promise for a Union unit in Downing Street and urged Mr Johnson to deliver for Scotland in his first Budget.
Miss Davidson rejected calls for the Scottish party to split from the UK Tories, saying it is the ‘most autonomous’ of all proUnion parties in the UK.
Mr Mundell also backed three of Mr Johnson’s rivals in the leaderhis ship contest and pledged to do ‘whatever I deem necessary’ to prevent the UK leaving the EU without a deal.
However, he is now expected to be offered the chance to keep his job because Mr Johnson values his experience.
In a statement yesterday, Mr Mundell congratulated Mr Johnson and said: ‘Our party must now unite behind the new leader and Prime Minister, so we can get on with the job of delivering Brexit, whilst maintaining a strong United Kingdom.’
Although Miss Davidson said it was up to Mr Johnson who is in Cabinet, she said: ‘I would say in terms of David Mundell, there is a reason that he is the longestserving Cabinet member in his post. He has a wealth of experience, we have a fantastic working relationship, I think the new Prime Minister would do well to take his advice on Scotland.’
Several senior Scottish Tories raised concerns ahead of the leadership contest that a victory for Mr Johnson could puncture the party’s prospects in the next Holyrood election in 2021.
But Stephen Kerr, MP for Stirling, said that Scotland now needs Mr Johnson to succeed as Prime Minister. Writing in today’s Scottish Daily Mail, he urges the new party leader to make Miss Davidson his ‘principal adviser’ on Scottish issues.
John Lamont MP, who was Mr Hunt’s campaign manager in Scotland, said: ‘While I am disappointed that Jeremy Hunt has not received sufficient backing, now is the time for the Conservative Party to come together and to deliver Brexit.
‘We need to respect the result of the 2016 referendum so that we can move on as a country. As a party we also need to unite to prevent Jeremy Corbyn becoming Prime Minister and oppose Nicola Sturgeon and her obsession with breaking up Britain.’
Nationalist MP Pete Wishart said: ‘No one will be surprised that David Mundell has performed another reverse-ferret on his latest threat to resign – the man is as spineless as a jellyfish.’
‘He won fair and square’