BORIS Johnson is not expected to visit Scotland to campaign ahead of the Holyrood election, Scottish Conservative leader Douglas Ross has confirmed.
Mr Ross said the Prime Minister is leading the UK Government's response to the pandemic and stressed this is a "very different" campaign due to the virus.
Mr Johnson previously said "wild horses" wouldn't keep him away, while Mr Ross had insisted: “The Prime Minister will be up here.”
But the Scottish Tory leader has backtracked in recent days. Last week, he said he did not know if Mr Johnson would visit.
The Prime Minister visited Scotland earlier this year, when coronavirus levels were much higher and a "stay at home" order was in place.
Asked if Mr Johnson was coming up to campaign with him, Mr Ross told journalists: "This is a very different campaign, it's not as simple and as easy or as straightforward.
"And at the moment I don't believe the Prime Minister will be coming up given the circumstances we're dealing with and the fact that he continues to lead the UK Government's response to Covid-19, the vaccine rollout and getting us through this pandemic.
"But I'm in touch with the Prime Minister, he understands it's our campaign being led by me up here in Scotland."
Mr Ross said "things could still change", adding: "The Prime Minister could pop up at the end of the campaign."
Asked if Mr Johnson's absence would be a blessing in disguise, given his unpopularity in Scotland, Mr Ross said: "I work closely with the Prime Minister.
"He knows the campaign we're running here in Scotland, and he's absolutely behind the Scottish Conservative efforts to stop an SNP majority and to get the focus of Scottish politics back on recovery and rebuilding after the pandemic."
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