THE Conservative party’s new leader has been described as “entirely unfit to be Prime Minister in every way possible” – by one of his own party’s councillors.
Yvonne McNeilly issued a scathing criticism of Boris Johnson following his election as leader of the Conservatives on Tuesday.
Councillor McNeilly, who represents the Cowal ward on Argyll and Bute Council, also said the party in Scotland should “take all the steps necessary to distance the Scottish Conservatives” from the UK party after Mr Johnson was elected leader by a landslide margin.
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Mr Johnson will be confirmed as the UK’s new Prime Minister on Wednesday.
He polled almost twice as many votes as his only remaining rival, foreign secretary Jeremy Hunt.
Councillor McNeilly, who switched from Labour to the Conservatives in 2014, had previously given her backing to Rory Stewart in the party’s leadership contest.
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Councillor McNeilly, who was elected to Argyll and Bute Council for the first time in 2017 and currently serves as the authority’s policy lead on education, said: “I think Jeremy Hunt seems a nice guy, but we are picking a Prime Minister and party leader.
“My views on Boris remain exactly the same. He is entirely unfit to be Prime Minister in every way possible.
“I now feel stronger than ever that Ruth Davidson must now take all the steps necessary to distance the Scottish Conservatives.
“A fully autonomous, Scottish centre ground, Unionist party, a total re-branding.
“Nothing less will suffice. The country deserves better than this.”
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Argyll and Bute’s other eight Conservative councillors have also been asked for their views on Mr Johnson’s election.
They are the council’s depute leader, Gary Mulvaney, Bobby Good, Alastair Redman, David Kinniburgh, Donald Kelly, Barbara Morgan, former MSP Sir Jamie McGrigor, and Andrew Vennard.
Councillor Redman was the only one of the party’s Argyll and Bute councillors to express a preference in public when the leadership contest got under way, when he gave his backing to Mr Johnson.
Council leader Councillor Aileen Morton, a Liberal Democrat, has also been contacted for her reaction.
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