Douglas Ross has revealed he often “challenges” the prime minister on his approach to Scotland.
The Scottish Tory leader, who has been a vocal critic of Westminster, told how he does not hesitate to take on Downing Street if “the right approach for Scotland” is not being taken.
The comments come after Boris Johnson branded devolution a “disaster” and claimed it was one of Tony Blair’s “biggest mistakes”.
Mr Ross, appearing at the Scottish Tory conference, said he had spoken to the prime minister about the remarks and was reassured he “believes in devolution”.
He said: “Look, he believes in devolution; devolution is something that served him well when he was Mayor of London, but he has frustrations that a lot of people in Scotland share.
“He is frustrated about how our country has been run after 13 and a half years of the SNP being in power.
“If the SNP put all the drive and determination they have to separate Scotland from the rest of the UK into an education system, we may not have plummeted down international rankings.
“These are all issues that people look out with devolution and think, actually, we can do better than that.”
Healthy debate
Mr Ross, who earlier this year said the attitude of his party in London was “making the case for independence” more effectively than the SNP, also defended his style of leadership.
“People don’t expect their politicians to be clones and all agree the exact same thing and exact same point”, he said.
“I don’t think it’s the worst thing in the world for people to see and understand that you can be in the same party but you can look at things in different ways.
“Myself and the prime minister can work together, but it’s in the best interests of Scotland that we can challenge each other.
“He will challenge me and I’ll challenge him if we don’t think we’re taking the right approach for Scotland.
“I think it’s healthy that we can have that debate.”