Douglas Ross has replaced Jackson Carlaw as the Scottish Conservative Party leader following Mr Carlaw’s decision to step down last week. During an interview with Channel 4 News’s Krishnan Guru-Murthy, Mr Ross was grilled on why Boris Johnson is unpopular in Scotland and what the Prime Minister must do to rectify that.
Krishnan Guru-Murthy asked: “Why do you think Boris Johnson is so unpopular in Scotland?”
Mr Ross replied: “Well, the Prime Minister is Prime Minister for the whole of the United Kingdom and when he was recently in Scotland back in my Moray seat just a couple of weeks ago, he was listening to businesses so I think it is important he gets out there listens to businesses and responds to their needs.
“I think the more we show the UK Government investing directly in Scotland’s working communities and individuals, the more they will see the benefits of working together.”
The Channel 4 journalist said: “Do you think there is a personality problem there? The same way Margaret Thatcher had a popularity problem in Scotland.
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“Does Boris Johnson have a similar problem, and will that affect you and your efforts to convince the Scottish people to vote Conservative?”
Mr Ross responded: “We have to remember that the Scottish Conservative Party is part of the UK party, we do have our own distinctive policies.
“UK Government leaders tend to be less popular than those in the devolved administration around the country.”
The election fo Mr Ross comes at a time when polls suggest support for Scottish independence has continued to grow through the coronavirus pandemic.
“It is no longer obvious whether this most recent increase is to do with Brexit as opposed to something else.
“The most obvious something else is of course coronavirus.”
He continued: “It is probably true that more people across the whole of the UK, not least England, now realise that quite a lot of life in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland is not run by the UK Government in London.
“It is run by the developed administrations.”
