Douglas Ross has fallen ill and lost his voice as his throat “seized up” just before his planned appearance at the Scottish Tory conference in Aberdeen.
The Holyrood Conservative leader was marked absent from First Minister’s Questions on Thursday as he recovers at home with MSP Jamie Greene standing in for him.
The party confirmed he had not tested positive for Covid after taking multiple tests for the virus.
He is still due to appear at the party’s Aberdeen conference this weekend but his planned speech will be “shortened”.
His address to the audience is scheduled for Saturday, one day after Boris Johnson makes his speech in person on Friday.
A party spokesperson said: “In the past 24 hours, Douglas Ross has fallen ill.
“His throat has seized up, which has left him unable to speak at First Minister’s Questions today.
“He has taken Covid tests each day, all of which have come back negative.
“Douglas will still be appearing at Scottish Conservative Conference on Friday for the Prime Minister’s speech, and he will be delivering a slightly shortened version of his keynote address on Saturday.”
Tory divisions
This weekend’s Tory Party conference comes after Douglas Ross recently dropped his calls for Boris Johnson to resign over the partygate scandal.
The Holyrood Conservative leader said the prime minister should not step down from his post during the Ukraine crisis.
But he also admitted recently that the lockdown parties held at Downing Street could damage the Scottish Tories in the upcoming council elections.
His initial calls for the prime minister to go sparked a Conservative civil war with senior minister Jacob Rees-Mogg branding him a “lightweight”.
Chancellor Rishi Sunak will also address the north-east conference via video link tomorrow afternoon after Boris Johnson speaks.