Jacob Rees-Mogg has dismissed the “partygate” scandal as “fluff”, saying the Ukraine war showed it was not a “serious” issue.

But fellow Tories on Friday distanced themselves from his remarks, with one Cabinet member saying the row, which saw scores of Downing Street figures accused of breaking lockdown rules, “should be taken seriously”.

The row led to several backbenchers calling for Boris Johnson to resign, with some submitting letters of no confidence and one Tory MP defecting to Labour.

Mr Rees-Mogg’s comments came as Mr Johnson and Douglas Ross, the leader of the Scottish Conservatives, appeared together for the first time since Mr Ross called on the Prime Minister to resign. He has since withdrawn his letter of no confidence.

Introducing Mr Johnson at the Scottish Conservative conference in Aberdeen, he praised his leadership over Ukraine as well as that of Liz Truss and Ben Wallace.

Speaking at the Conservative spring conference in Blackpool, Mr Rees-Mogg said the Russian invasion of Ukraine was “a reminder that the world is serious, that there are serious things to be discussed and serious decisions for politicians to take”.

During a live recording of his Moggcast podcast, he said: “‘Partygate’ … is shown up for the disproportionate fluff of politics that it was rather than something of fundamental seriousness about the safety of the world and the established global order.”