A Scottish Conservative MP has stepped down from a role in the party amid the ongoing sleaze scandal engulfing Boris Johnson’s government.
Andrew Bowie has resigned as a vice-chairman of the Conservatives to focus on his constituency, he said.
The MP for West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine has a narrow majority, holding the seat in 2019 by only 843 votes in the face of an SNP surge.
But the move comes as Johnson faces mounting claims of sleaze against his MPs with former Attorney General Geoffrey Cox facing a possible investigation by the Commissioner for Parliamentary Standards over his double-jobbing work as a lawyer.
Bowie’s resignation is not understood to be linked to the Prime Minister’s difficulties and Tory sources indicated the vice chair position would be held open for him should he wish to return.
In statement Bowie said it had been an honour to serve as vice chair of the Conservative and Unionist party and made it clear his move was based on defending his majority.
He said: “In the last few months, I have come to the decision that I need to take a step back from the demands of the role to focus on representing my constituents. I formally asked the party yesterday if I could step back from my position and I will remain in post until they have found a successor.”
However, Bowie’s departure is reflective of the fury among Tory MPs over Number 10’s conduct in the Owen Paterson scandal.
Tory backbenchers are angry at having been whipped to support an overhaul of the rules on Commons standards in a bid to temporarily block the suspension of former cabinet minister Owen Paterson.
The government position collapsed and Paterson, who had been found by the Commons Standards Committee to have broken the centuries-old ban on paid lobbying by MPs, chose to quit Westminster after 24 years.
Bowie is seen as party loyalist and an MP with Ministerial ambitions after his Downing Street experience as a parliamentary private Secretary to Theresa May.
When first elected in 2017, Bowie enjoyed a majority of almost 8,000 after being bolstered by a 19 point swing to the Tories, but that was reduced to a razor wire win in the 2019 election.
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