DOUGLAS Ross is being urged to make an urgent statement to Holyrood after announcing his intention to stand down as leader of the Scottish Conservatives.
The SNP said that there are “many unanswered questions” regarding the reasons behind his decision to resign as leader and the scandal surrounding his expenses claims revealed over the weekend.
An article in The Sunday Mail claims that advisors flagged concerns that Ross was using Westminster expenses to travel to his third job as a linesman at football games.
Ross has also said that he will give up his seat as an MSP if he manages to win the Aberdeenshire North and Moray East seat in the General Election.
He replaced the assumed candidate of David Duguid after the party claimed he was too unwell to contest the election.
However, Duguid – who has been hospitalised since April – later stated that he was entirely willing to stand. First Minister John Swinney said Ross was “taking the electorate for granted”.
“One minute he wants to come to Holyrood to become First Minister, he now seems to have given up on that by standing down from the Conservative Party leadership,” he said.
“He now wants to go to Westminster, if that doesn’t work out for him he will carry on with his representation in the Scottish Parliament.
“That is a level of taking the electorate for granted which is totally unacceptable.
“And I am staggered that the Conservative Party is putting up with this because it just is demonstrating contempt for the electorate.”
Meanwhile, SNP depute leader Keith Brown said Ross had to face parliament and provide clarity on both his resignation and the allegations surrounding his use of expenses claims.
He said: "Douglas Ross' shock resignation this morning, after revelations about his parliamentary expenses, leaves a number of questions unanswered - and it is incumbent upon Mr Ross to come to Parliament, make a personal statement, and stop avoiding scrutiny.
“After showing nothing but contempt for his constituents and the Scottish Parliament, it’s clear Douglas Ross should resign as an MSP to allow his constituent to elect an MSP that will represent local interests - not their own.
“His own party have forced him to quit as Scottish Tory leader because they clearly don’t think he’s up to the job so why should his constituents be expected to suffer?“
"At the general election, only the SNP can get rid of the Tories in seats across Scotland - and voters can show Douglas Ross the door for good by voting SNP on 4th July to put Scotland's interests first."
It comes after The National revealed that the candidate set to replace Douglas Ross as an MSP lives in London.
