DOUGLAS Ross has said “the timing is not how I would have envisaged it” as he faced the media after stepping down as Scottish Tory leader in the middle of the election campaign.
The Conservative candidate for Aberdeenshire North and Moray East said that he recognised his colleagues in the party were “unhappy” at his decision to contest the seat after David Duguid (below), who is recovering from serious illness, was deselected.
He is also facing scrutiny over parliamentary expenses which are alleged to have related to his side gig as a linesman and not his duties as an MP.
Former first minister Alex Salmond branded Ross a “rat deserting a sinking ship”.
Facing the media after his announcement on Monday morning, Ross said he would have done things differently if he could have his time again.
He said: “The timing is not how I would have envisaged it but I think it’s right to take these decision and to take them at the time, I’ve reflected over the weekend on what colleagues and others have said.”
Asked about the reaction from fellow Tory MSPs who have let their displeasure be known, Ross said: “Many of them have not just been saying it to me but into the media and suchlike that they were unhappy clearly it had always been my intention to continue as an MP and MSP up until the General Election, the circumstances changed very quickly last week.
“There was a vacancy in a key seat which is a straight fight between the Scottish Conservatives and the SNP. I put myself forward, I was selected by the local association there because I want to beat the SNP, I want to end their obsession with independence.”
He denied he was abandoning his Holyrood colleagues, saying he was “staying on” as leader until the election was concluded.
Ross said there would be a “process” to replace him as the leader of Holyrood’s second largest party.
He said: “I’m not running away from anything.”
