A Scottish Conservative MSP has quit the party just 10 months after she tried to become its leader.
Michelle Ballantyne said she no longer felt like she fitted within the Tory group at Holyrood and would now sit as an independent list MSP for the south of Scotland.
She lost out to Jackson Carlaw at the Scottish Conservatives leadership contest in February after making a string of gaffes.
Carlaw lasted only months in the job and resigned as leader in July, to be replaced by MP Douglas Ross.
In a statement, Ballantyne said: "It is with great sadness that I have decided to resign today from the Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party.
“That said, I recognise and respect the work Douglas, Ruth, and their team are putting in to re-shape the future of the Scottish Conservatives and the party’s position going forward. However, as Douglas indicated in his address to our party conference, there are differences arising for some in the party’s positioning on policy and, indeed, its principles.
"Sadly, for me, this means I no longer feel that the Party and I are a good fit.
“I have not taken this decision lightly and I wish both Douglas and Ruth, as well as all my colleagues, the very best going forward."
Ballantyne has proved a controversial figure in the Scottish Parliament and has come under attack from opposition parties for several outspoken comments.
Ballantyne was elected to Holyrood in 2016 and was formerly her party’s shadow cabinet secretary for communities and social security.
She caused an outcry in 2018 after defending the Tory Government’s two child benefits cap, which critics believe has driven families into poverty.
She said at the time: “It is fair that people on benefit cannot have as many children as they like while people who work and pay their way and don’t claim benefits have to make decisions about the number of children they can have.”
The South of Scotland MSP, who confirmed claiming tax credits in the past, later said: “There’s no such thing as a bedroom tax.”
