Boris Johnson hits back at Nicola Sturgeon's 'attack' on his 'fragile male ego'

A row has broken out between Boris Johnson and Nicola Sturgeon after the First Minister of Scotland claimed the PM had a "fragile male ego".

The SNP leader also claimed Mr Johnson snubbed an invite to her official residence in Edinburgh, Bute House, in August and often chose to send Communities Secretary Michael Gove to meetings instead of going himself.

She told Vogue magazine: "He tends to delegate most of his interactions with the devolved governments to Michael Gove.

"That's fine, Michael Gove and I work together well, but it's a different approach to his predecessors."

Asked why she thought this was the case, she said: "Maybe it's just a bit of a fragile male ego.

The first Minister of Scotland claimed the PM had a "fragile male ego" (REUTERS)

"He seems to have a disinclination to be, metaphorically speaking, in the same room as me. It's odd."

But the PM hit back at what he called Ms Sturgeon's “new attack” on him, telling the Mirror: "I think all I would say on that is I had a good conversation with Nicola, I think last week, and she has been deployed to help us in all sorts of ways at COP26.

"That's very important as this is a whole UK effort," he continued.

Nicola Sturgeon claimed Johnson often chose to send Communities Secretary Michael Gove to meetings instead of going himself (PA)

Asked why she said it, he replied: “Search me, I don't know."

But he added the FM was “useful”, saying: “I’m always delighted to work with Nicola. I had a good conversation with her last week and she's being very helpful in the run-up to COP and I'm sure she will play a very useful role as part of the pan-UK effort.”

The clash could make things awkward when the pair meet at the COP26 summit in Glasgow next week, where they will co-host an event.