FORMER Tory leadership contender Jeremy Hunt appeared to snub Douglas Ross when he took to social media to highlight Tony Blair’s view that the best opposition leader to the SNP has been Ruth Davidson.
Hunt, who stood unsuccessfully against Boris Johnson in the Conservative leadership contest in 2019, took to Twitter to highlight the former’s Labour PM’s views.
He tweeted: “The only effective opposition to the SNP in the last decade was when @RuthDavidsonMSP was leader.”
TB: ‘The only effective opposition to the SNP in the last decade was when @RuthDavidsonMSP was leader.’
— Jeremy Hunt (@Jeremy_Hunt) January 15, 2021
Hunt, the former Tory health secretary, did not give his view on the performance of current Scottish Tory leader Douglas Ross.
Blair’s comments were seen as a damning verdict on Scottish Labour by insisting the only effective opposition the SNP faced in the past decade was when Davidson was Tory leader. But by highlighting his comment it suggested Hunt may agree with him.
Davidson – like most of the Tory MSP group – backed Hunt, a former Remainer in the Tory leadership race, with Brexiteers in the group such as former Tory MSP Michelle Ballantyne – now Reform UK Scotland leader -- and Oliver Mundell backing Johnson.
Moray MP Ross – who also backed Brexit – also supported Johnson in the Tory leadership election and was later rewarded with a junior ministerial post. He later resigned from his role over the PM’s response to his chief aide Dominic Cumming’s visit to Durham from London during the spring lockdown.
An SNP spokesperson said: “It is almost impossible for voters to tell these two pro-Union parties apart.
“With Labour and the Tories currently trailing in the polls, the SNP will continue to work hard for every single vote and ensure Scotland has the right to decide its own future – not Boris Johnson.”
A Scottish Conservative spokesperson declined to comment.
Johnson beat Hunt in the last round of voting in the contest to become Tory leader and succeed Theresa May as PM.
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