Michael Gove stepped into a Tory civil war in an attempt to defend Douglas Ross from claims he is a “lightweight” in the party.
The senior Conservative said “super-heavyweight” Mr Ross has been a “brilliant leader” weeks after he’d been ridiculed in the Commons by Jacob Rees-Mogg.
The name calling began when Mr Ross, MP for Moray, said Prime Minister Boris Johnson should quit.
The prime minister later refused to defend the Holyrood party chief in the House of Commons.
Since then Mr Ross has continued to insist the Tory leader must stand down as further damaging party revelations emerged.
Mr Gove said on Wednesday the PM has full confidence in Mr Ross and believes he’s a “fantastic champion” for the country.
But he stopped short of saying Mr Rees-Mogg should say sorry.
‘Brilliant leader’
The levelling up minister said: “In my opinion Douglas Ross is a super-heavyweight.
“Douglas Ross is a friend of mine. He is a brilliant leader of the Scottish Conservatives.
He does a fantastic job, not just in Westminster where he helps to hold government to account, but also in Holyrood. I think that Douglas has assembled a top-rate team in Holyrood.”
Mr Gove refused to be drawn on whether his Cabinet colleague Mr Rees-Mogg should be forced to apologise for his jibe.
Douglas is a fantastic champion for Scotland.
– Michael Gove MP
He said: “I never invite other people to apologise. I always, if I make a mistake, apologise myself.
“Speaking for myself, and I know for the Prime Minister as well, we think Douglas is a fantastic champion for Scotland.
“He holds the First Minister rigorously to account. We should be, as a Conservative team, recognising we are stronger together as one Conservative family.”
How the Scottish Conservatives split over Boris Johnson
Mr Ross was joined by all Tory MSPs when he demanded Boris Johnson’s resignation last month.
Every active Holyrood Conservative politician agreed the lockdown bash scandal was too damaging for the prime minister to continue.
But so far Mr Ross is the only MP for his party north of the border to turn against their Westminster leader.
Secretary of state for Scotland Alister Jack has remained resolutely behind the PM and insists he can continue in the top job.
The Dumfries and Galloway MP insisted Mr Johnson could not be blamed for parties held the night before Prince Philip’s funeral, saying: “When the cat’s away, the mice were playing.”
The Tory loyalist claimed a party held in the PM’s flat on the day Dominic Cummings quit in November 2020 could have been a “strategy meeting”.
North-east MP Andrew Bowie said Mr Johnson should be “considering his position” but refused to demand his exit.
He instead said he would wait for Sue Gray’s full report to be released.
Ex-Scotland minister David Mundell said last month he believed there was no reason the PM couldn’t explain what had happened at lockdown parties before Ms Gray’s inquiry came out.