Former Tory MSP Michelle Ballantyne has stepped down as the head of the Reform Party in Scotland, according to reports.
Ms Ballantyne told the Herald she was quitting to focus on the multimillion-pound restoration of The Haining country house and estate in Selkirk – of which she is a trustee and chief executive officer.
The former MSP told the newspaper: “I am the Trustee and CEO of The Haining in Selkirk which is run voluntarily for the benefit of the people.
Needless to say it’s a big job and the funders wanted reassurance of my commitment and time so I felt that it was important to focus my energies for a while, so I have stood down from leadership of Reform UK Scotland
“We are currently under way with the renovation of the mansion house as well as completing the improvement of the grounds – 160 acres – and implementation of the business sustainability plan that I wrote at the beginning of the pandemic.
“Needless to say it’s a big job and the funders wanted reassurance of my commitment and time so I felt that it was important to focus my energies for a while, so I have stood down from leadership of Reform UK Scotland.”
Ms Ballantyne became an MSP in 2017 after fellow Tory Rachael Hamilton vacated her regional list seat to fight a by-election.
In early 2020, she was defeated by Jackson Carlaw in her bid for the leadership of the party north of the border.
By November that year, she had quit the party and sat in Holyrood as an independent until she lost her seat in 2021.
Ms Ballantyne became leader of Reform UK – which was originally set up by Nigel Farage as the Brexit Party before it re-branded – in January 2021.
