THE UK Conservatives last night distanced themselves from the civil war threatening to destroy the Scottish Tories following David McLetchie's resignation.

Francis Maude, the UK chairman, said Scottish infighting was "clearly not helpful" to the party's ambition of seizing power from Labour.

He said he feared the circumstances of the Pentlands MSP's departure last week were obscuring the Conservative message. A spokesman for Tory leadership contender David Davis also indicated a coolness towards Scotland by saying the MP's trip north of the Border this week was "by no means certain".

This is partly because Davis's campaign manager in Scotland, Brian Monteith MSP, was forced to resign the Tory whip on Friday after plotting against McLetchie.

Maude's comments cap the worst week for the Scottish Tories since they lost all their seats at the 1997 general election. Their woes began on Monday when McLetchie resigned as leader following a Sunday Herald investigation into his travel expenses.

The Edinburgh MSP was forced to quit after he failed to explain a number of taxi journeys that appeared to be for party, personal and legal purposes. He is expected to be replaced by current interim leader Annabel Goldie, whose first days as acting chief were spent dealing with Monteith's resignation.

Maude said he was "sorry" McLetchie had resigned but said the party's troubles were hurting the Conservative cause.

"Everyone in the Scottish Conservatives should recognise that the only purpose of the party is to represent our constituents. Any energy which is not devoted entirely to that one purpose is energy that is harmful, " he said.

He added: "We are one party, and we stand together, or we fall together."

Maude said the fallout from the McLetchie resignation was not playing well with voters.

"It is clearly not helpful. I would urge everybody to get behind the new leader of the parliamentary group and pull together. No-one will have been happy with the turn of events of the last week, " he said.

But he did offer "full support" to Scottish Tory chairman Peter Duncan, who has been criticised for letting the McLetchie saga drag on. In a leaked e-mail, former deputy chairman Mars Goodman said: "We need a winner as chairman, someone who commands respect and affection and who knows about marketing our vote in the real world. Someone who would not tolerate improper behaviour from any of our senior people."

Maude's comments reflect frustrations at Westminster that the positive coverage of the leadership contest is being wasted by a Scottish Tory party at war with itself. McLetchie's resignation was followed by infighting where party MSPs demanded an investigation into allegations that a Tory mole had undermined him.

Other Tory insiders demanded an inquiry into the way "Taxigate" was handled by McLetchie's aides.

News of the bloodletting has reached the two contenders for the UK leadership of the party.

A spokesman for Davis said a planned trip to Scotland this week was in doubt. "His schedule on that day is being reviewed, " he said.

Davis's rethink follows the move last month by Cameron, who cancelled a provisional engagement in Scotland due to "diary commitments".

A spokesman for the Scottish Conservatives refused to be drawn on Davis and Maude's comments.

SNP deputy leader Nicola Sturgeon said Goldie's party was dying. "The biggest danger for the anti-Scottish Tories is that these events are only part of the reason why they have been abandoned by the Scottish electorate. The worst is yet to come for Annabel Goldie's dwindling band, " she said.