Douglas Ross's time as Scottish Tory leader is over unless he stands up to Boris Johnson, Labour's Anas Sarwar has said. 

The MSP said his political rival's fortunes were inextricably linked to those of the Prime Minister.

Earlier this morning, Sir Graham Brady, the chairman of the 1922 committee of backbench Tories confirmed that at least 54 MPs — amounting to a 15 per cent of the parliamentary party — had now lost confidence in the Prime Minister's leadership. 

That means a vote will take place between 6pm and 8pm with an announcement of the result to follow shortly afterwards.

It's still not clear how Mr Ross will be voting in tonight's ballot. 

When the Partygate row broke, he was one of the first senior Tory politicians to call on Mr Johnson to resign. 

However after Russia invaded Ukraine, Mr Ross dramatically U-turned, welcoming Mr Johnson to the Scottish Tory conference in Aberdeen, and withdrawing his letter calling for a vote of no confidence.

He said the war in Europe meant "it wouldn’t be right to remove the Prime Minister at this time."

 

Speaking ahead of tonight's vote Mr Sarwar said: “If the Conservative party has any credibility left, they must boot out Boris Johnson – If they do not, it is down to the people of Britain to do that job at the next election.

 

“Douglas Ross pretends to be the great defender of the United Kingdom but everyone knows that Boris Johnson is a disaster for the UK and a gift to those who wish to break the UK up.

“Today, Douglas Ross and his Scottish Tory MPs have a choice. Are they on Boris’s side or Britain’s?

“Just like Boris Johnson, Douglas Ross’s leadership is over – standing up to Boris is his last role of the dice."