Douglas Ross: I know I’m not everyone’s cup of tea

After facing down three first ministers at Holyrood, Douglas Ross will soon leave the Scottish Parliament.

Rejected by voters in the general election last summer, the former Scottish Tory leader is undeterred and will try his luck again at Westminster in 2029, unless an election is called sooner.

Speaking in his parliamentary office, with his term as an MSP due to end when he steps down at May’s Holyrood election, Mr Ross admitted: “I know I’m not everyone’s cup of tea.”

The politician is no stranger to an argument and knows he “gets under the skin” of his opponents.

Mr Ross told the Press Association they were probably “punching the air” when he announced he was leaving – a decision he made three months before he told the public.

Speaking about his own party’s reaction to him quitting, he added: “What my colleagues thought and what they said to me were probably two different things because everyone was very complimentary about what I’d done.

“Political opponents have been fairly muted in their response, probably punching the air when I’m not looking.

“I understand that I am not everyone’s cup of tea and I can get under the skin of some opposition politicians.”

They were “probably glad to see the back of me”, the Highlands and Islands MSP added.

As Scottish Conservative leader, he questioned three first ministers: Nicola Sturgeon, Humza Yousaf and John Swinney.

All of them, he said, had “fiercely different styles” but were united in “assuming the SNP can do no wrong”.

“I didn’t have a good relationship with any of them,” Mr Ross said.

“And for me I’m quite happy with that.

“Nicola Sturgeon and I had no personal relationship at all.

“She would speak to (Scottish Labour leader) Anas (Sarwar) and (Scottish Liberal Democrats leader) Alex Cole-Hamilton when we were grouped together as leaders.

“She didn’t speak to me and I didn’t speak to her and I was quite happy about that.”

Asked if he could be friends with Ms Sturgeon, Mr Ross did not miss a beat, saying: “No, we’ve got nothing in common.”

For the 43-year-old, football has been a means to overcome differences between him and many politicians, including Mr Yousaf, while he spoke to Mr Swinney about rural Scotland.

But the Tory suggested the friendliness with Scotland’s current First Minister would not last, saying: “We only overlapped a little bit and he was still at the time of being nice John Swinney and being friends with everyone – I remember he came up and shook my hand immediately after the vote to elect him as First Minister.

“So he was still trying to be as consensual as possible but you could see, at times, there’s a bit of rage under that kind of serious bank manager image that he quite likes.”

But Mr Ross’s issues are wider than the SNP, claiming “Westminster acts more like a parliament” than Holyrood does, which was part of his reason for opting to stand down ahead of seeking election at the next Westminster general election.

“We’re too scripted,” he said, talking about his fellow MSPs.

“It’s quite a sterile environment in terms of the debating and it’s the same with questions.

“We see so often that a chunk of the First Minister’s Questions is dedicated to constituency and general supplementary questions.

“The ones on the SNP benches, by and large, are written by John Swinney’s advisers – there’s no doubt about it, because it’s a subject that apparently he knows nothing about it, but he can flip his folder and read out an answer.

“That’s not the way it should be.”

Like all politicians, abuse is a part of the MSP’s daily life.

Mr Ross said: “It doesn’t really bother me. What bothers me is when my wife says someone is saying this about you, or my parents.”

The family part hurts, the MSP admitted, as he recalled posting a picture online holding his newborn.

He said: “There were some very nice comments, then there was another one, something like, ‘oh, just another rat taken into the world’.”

Worse than the abuse, Mr Ross said, and the lowest point of his Holyrood career, was the failure of his Right to Recovery Bill, which was voted down last year.

After gathering with families outside Parliament who had lost children due to drink and drug abuse, Mr Ross said he asked Health Secretary Neil Gray at the coffee queue in the Garden Lobby if the Government would abstain on the vote, having told families he was hopeful they would.

According to Mr Ross, Mr Gray said “the answer is no”.

The Conservative MSP told PA: “It was at that point I knew years of hard work from me in my office, but more importantly decades of campaigning for change, was going to fall that afternoon because the SNP and the Greens were going to be equipped to vote down a Bill that I genuinely think would save us.

“That’s the worst moment I’ve had in this Parliament.”

Asked for comment, a spokesperson for the SNP said: “We wish Douglas Ross all the very best in whatever he chooses to do next – he’s shrewdly chosen to leave on his own accord, that is not an opportunity that many of his colleagues will have.”