DOUGLAS Ross and Alister Jack are to stay silent on which Tory leadership hopeful they will back to be the next prime minister.

Ross was roundly mocked earlier this year after incessant flip-flopping over whether or not Boris Johnson should remain as Prime Minister.

The Scottish Tory leader initially called for Johnson to go in the wake of the partygate scandal, and sent a letter of no confidence to the backbench 1922 committee, but then U-turned shortly before the Tory party conference to say he should stay as PM until the war in Ukraine was over.

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By the time it came to June and Johnson finally faced a no confidence vote, Ross decided to vote against him.

Scotland Secretary Jack, who has remained loyal to Johnson, has also said he will not declare who he will be voting for. 

And, as 11 Tory MPs battle for the top job, only two Scottish Tory MPs have publicly endorsed any of the candidates.

Jack told the BBC: "Well I'm not going to declare who I'm going to be supporting in the race, I've made that decision, but I will be speaking to them to discuss matters relating to Scotland and what I believe is important and what I want to put on their radar."

Andrew Bowie, MP for West Aberdeenshire, has backed former chancellor Rishi Sunak, while John Lamont, MP for Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk, has backed former defence secretary Penny Mordaunt.

Bowie, on Sky News, said: "I'm backing Rishi Sunak because he has been tested in the heat of a crisis.

"He was the person that led our financial response to Covid, and he's the person I think to take us through the situation that we're facing as a country right now.

"Reuniting the country, recovering the economy and leading this country forward, and that's why I think he's the best person to be Conservative Party leader and the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom."

Lamont described Mordaunt as an "effective communicator" and "strong on the Union" when he backed her leadership bid earlier this week. 

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Scottish Secretary Alister Jack, who was spotted standing beside Carrie Johnson while her husband gave his fated resignation speech last week, has not publicly backed any of the candidates. 

David Mundell, former Scotland secretary, and David Duguid, who resigned from the Scotland Office just last week, have not made any public statements either.

The six Scottish Tory MPs will be given a vote in the first rounds of the leadership contest, before the final two will travel the country in a bid to win over the membership.