FORMER Scottish Tory leader Douglas Ross has announced he will step down from Holyrood at the next election – as he revealed he wants to get back into Westminster.
The MSP, who served as the opposition leader in the Scottish Parliament for more than three years, said he hoped to stand again at the next General Election.
In a statement posted to Twitter/X on Tuesday morning, Ross said: "A year out from the Scottish Parliament election feels like the right time to confirm that I will not be a candidate for Holyrood next year.
"Local constituency work has always been the most rewarding part of this job for me, and for the last 18 years I’ve had the enormous honour of representing my home area as a councillor, an MP, and an MSP.
"In the General Election last year, I said I would stand down as an MSP if elected. As I hope to stand for Westminster again at the next General Election, I believe it is right that I don’t seek election to Holyrood in 2026."
He had initially said he would step down as an MP at the 2024 poll, but reversed this position.
Ross first sought to get Kathleen Robertson to quit as the Tory candidate for Moray West, Nairn and Strathspey, The Telegraph reported last year. The paper claimed he had told her "his heart was in Westminster, not Holyrood".
His alleged actions were met with criticism from the candidates to replace him as Scottish Conservative leader, not least because Ross had repeatedly insisted that he would not seek a seat at Westminster.
He then went on to run unsuccessfully as the party's candidate in Aberdeenshire North and Moray East, after candidate David Duguid was deselected.
Duguid (below), who had served as the MP for Banff and Buchan since 2017, was suffering from a severe spinal illness which had immobilised him.
Ross announced in 2017 he would no longer take work as a linesman while the House of Commons was sitting following a row about him missing a vote on benefits while he was refereeing.
He also came under fire after failing to declare his earnings as a referee and an MSP in the Westminster register of interests.
During Boris Johnson's downfall as prime minister, Ross flip-flopped on whether he believed his London boss should resign.
After initially calling on Johnson to step down – and being dismissed by Jacob Rees-Mogg as not a "big figure" – Ross changed his stance and withdrew his letter of no confidence following the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Ross said in his resignation statement on Tuesday that he would work "flat out" to support Russell Findlay, his successor as Scottish Tory leader.
