Boris Johnson has appointed an MP who is being probed over complaints about "sexual touching" as his campaign manager in Scotland.
Aberdeen South MP Ross Thomson has been given the role of chairman of the campaign in Scotland as Johnson locks horns with Jeremy Hunt to be the next Tory leader and Prime Minister.
As well as coordinating MP, MSPs and councillors north of the border he will also advise the favourite in the contest on policy in Scotland.
Thomson , who sat as an MSP and councillor in Aberdeen before becoming an MP in 2017, is facing two allegations of miscoduct.
The 31-year-old referred himself to the Tory Party's in-house disciplinary panel after being accused of "sexual touching" in Westminster’s Strangers’ Bar last year.
He described the claims against him as “completely false”.
In a separate incident, the reported in February that a Scots MP made an official statement to Parliament’s sexual harassment hotline after Thomson allegedly groped other men in a Commons bar.
Speaking about his appointment as head of the Boris campaign in Scotland, Thomson told the P&J : "It is a huge honour to have been asked to chair Boris’ leadership campaign in Scotland at a time of huge excitement and opportunity for our country.
"Boris springs into this campaign with huge momentum, having won the support of over 50% of Conservative MPs.
"He has demonstrated that he can bring MPs together across leave and remain lines. He will unify our party and our country.
"Boris is the only candidate in this contest committed to delivering Brexit by October 31, which will restore trust in our politics.
"Prioritising and strengthening the United Kingdom and Scotland’s place within it will be at the heart of Boris’ premiership, which is why he’s secured the public backing of four Scottish MPs here in the north-east.
"I’m looking forward to the upcoming campaign, to engaging with members and to making the positive case for why Boris Johnson can make us believe in ourselves again as a country, enable everyone to fulfil their potential and take part in the huge opportunities of this incredible country.
"Britain needs Boris."
Boris Johnson is up against Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt to become the next leader of the Conservative Party and Prime Minister.
The winner will be chosen by around 160,000 members of the Tory party in a postal vote.
The results are expected to be announced on the week beginning July 22.
