BORIS Johnson is “finished” as Prime Minister, former Tory MSP Adam Tomkins has said.
Speaking on BBC Scotland's The Nine, the Glasgow University professor called for the Scottish Tories to distance themselves from the Westminster party.
He said during his time as an MSP between 2016 and 2021 all of the difficult days for the Scottish Conservatives were caused by the Westminster party.
"Boris Johnson is more or less finished as prime minister... if it's not this week or this month, it'll be very soon"@UofGLaw's @ProfTomkins says he thinks the Scottish Conservative Party must put "very serious and structural distance between itself and the Westminster party". pic.twitter.com/2CqIuVEixc
— The Nine (@BBCScotNine) January 11, 2022
It comes as the Prime Minister faces cross party calls to resign in the wake of yet more revelations about Downing Street parties.
READ MORE: Downing Street staff told to 'clean up' phones amid claims of parties at No 10
On Monday, emails seen by ITV News showed more than 100 Downing Street staff were invited to a Number 10 garden party at the height of the pandemic.
Attendees were asked to “bring their own booze” at the May 20, 2020 gathering while strict lockdown rules were implemented by the UK Government.
Asked whether voters should still vote Conservative after the revelations, Tomkins said they should, but added that the Prime Minister is likely to go “very soon”.
“Boris Johnson should be resigning tonight and if he doesn’t do that Conservative MPs need to hold him to account.”
— BBC Newsnight (@BBCNewsnight) January 11, 2022
Commenting on the No 10 lockdown drinks party, @theSNP’s @Ianblackford_MP says “there is a stench of sleaze and corruption about this government”
#Newsnight pic.twitter.com/1wsmbdOlrs
He said: “I don't think Boris Johnson will be leader of the Conservative Party for very long and I don't think Boris Johnson is a very good Conservative.
“You know, my first definition of a very good Conservative is somebody who's very good at conserving things which need to be conserved. And he seems to me to be somebody who's quite good at breaking things.
“And that does not a very, very good Conservative make ... I was going to say I think Boris Johnson is toast but I quite like toast. I think Boris Johnson is finished.
“As leader I think he's more or less finished as Prime Minister. If it's not this week or this month, it will be very soon.”
Tomkins also called for the Scottish Conservative Party to distance itself from the London party.
Asked by the BBC’s Martin Geissler whether it’s time to put distance between the two parties to help “detoxify the brand”, Tomkins said: “I think it is yes.”
He continued: “I thought that for a long time. I think that the Scottish Conservative Party needs to put very serious and structural distance between itself and the Westminster party.
“I wasn't an MSP for very long, just five short years. But all of the difficult days that we had when I was an MSP were days that were difficult, not because of anything we did in Holyrood, but because of things that were going on, that were beyond our control, and indeed beyond our influence, for the most part, in London 400 miles south.”
Tomkins said he is “desperate” for there to be a credible centre-right voice in Scottish politics.
“And I have to say,” he said. “In all candour, I am no longer confident that the Conservative Party can be the vehicle through which that voice is expressed, not because of anything that Douglas or Ruth or anybody else in Scotland is doing or doing wrong, but because of events down south, which are beyond our control and beyond our influence.”
Tomkins’s comments follow Scottish Tory leader Douglas Ross who called on the PM to resign if he broke lockdown rules.
READ MORE: Boris Johnson fighting to save job as he faces grilling at PMQs
Johnson has maintained he never broke any lockdown rules.
Ross called on the Prime Minister to answer the “very simple question” of whether or not he attended a “bring your own booze” party in the Downing Street garden during the first lockdown in May 2020.
Johnson is set to face even more scrutiny over the garden party at Prime Minister’s Questions on Wednesday as he fights to hang onto his job.
A recent survey found a majority of Brits, and 42 of Conservatives, think he should resign following the party scandal.
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