Analysis: Crisis in No 10 lays bare PM's trust problem as Scotland poll looms

Boris Johnson’s appeal in Scotland, or rather the distinct lack of it, was summed up more in sorrow than anger by one senior MP: "We managed to get a few people with doubts about Boris to vote for us at the election but this Cummings affair just confirmed their original opinion." And that view has now been amplified at least ten-fold following the resignation of Douglas Ross, as the under-secretary of state at the Scottish Office, in protest at the actions of the prime minister’s senior aide. He said he could not in good faith tell his constituents, who could not care for their sick relatives or say goodbye to dying ones while obeying lockdown rules, that Mr Cummings had acted appropriately. Mr Ross was not just a popular and talented politician but also one with the ability to take on and beat the Tories’ principal enemies in Scotland, Nicola Sturgeon’s SNP. "He had an unerring skill for getting under the skin of the Nats," said one senior official.