Ladies and gentlemen of the press, people of Scotland,

Two months ago I was asked by the former Leader of the Conservative and Unionist Party to serve as the Leader of the Scottish Conservatives after the last leader vanished. I had served as Deputy Leader up to that moment and was delighted to have been given this great opportunity to serve Scotland. The next election was upon us, a week after I was given the lead of our party and we all know how that election went, not as great as hoped beforehand. This resulted in us going into the opposition for the first time in years.

This position of leading the opposition against this Government of chaos has been a lot of fun to do, after many eyebrow-raising comments from the Government. However, I have decided to step down as leader of the Scottish Conservatives, not because I don’t want the best for Scotland, but because I’ve been asked to serve somewhere else. I will remain the MSP for Moray, I will continue to fight for a better Scotland and I will continue to fight for the Conservative values.

I want to thank every single person in my team for their help over these last few months, I couldn’t have done it without you and I wish the new leader of the Scottish Conservatives all the best.