Douglas Ross (Scottish politician)

Douglas Ross
MP
Member of Parliament
for Moray
Assumed office
9 June 2017
Preceded by Angus Robertson
Majority 4,159 (8.7%)
Member of the Scottish Parliament
In office
6 May 2016 – 9 June 2017
Succeeded by Jamie Halcro Johnston
Constituency Highlands and Islands
Personal details
Born Douglas Gordon Ross
(1983-04-09) 9 April 1983
Moray, Scotland
Political party Conservative

Douglas Gordon Ross (born Aberdeen 9 April 1983) is a Scottish Conservative Party politician who has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Moray[1] since June 2017.[2] He was previously a Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for the Highlands and Islands region.[3]

Education

Ross was educated at Forres Academy and the Scottish Agricultural College.[4]

Political career

Ross was first elected to Moray council in 2007, representing the Fochabers-Lhanbryde ward, and became part of the Independent/Conservative administration. He resigned from the council administration in December 2009, but continued as a Councillor.[5] In 2012 he was re-elected to the Moray council. He again became part of the ruling administration group, but was 'ousted' from this in 2014, following a debate about school closures.[6]

He has three times stood as the Conservative candidate in the Moray constituency at the UK Parliament and twice as the Conservative candidate for the Moray Scottish Parliament constituency, coming second to Angus Robertson in the 2010 and 2015 UK elections, and second to Richard Lochhead in the 2011 and 2016 Scottish elections, increasing his vote by 5.0% in 2015 and 18.0% in 2016. He became a member of the Scottish parliament in May 2016 for Highlands and Islands.[3], after being placed first on the regional list.

He stood again in the 2017 UK general election for the seat of Moray, challenging the SNP deputy leader, Angus Robertson. Ross was successful in overturning Robertson's 9,065 majority with 22,637 votes, 47.6% of the votes cast, gaining a 16.5% swing to the Conservatives.[7] Having gained a seat at Westminster, he resigned from his seat in the Scottish Parliament. He supported Remain in the EU referendum.[8]

In 2017 Ross was criticised for a comment he made during an interview that if he was Prime Minister for a day "without any repercussions", he would "like to see tougher enforcement against Gypsy Travellers". His remark was criticised, including by Naomi McAuliffe of Amnesty International.[9][10] Ross apologised for his use of language.[11] The Scottish Football Association launched a disciplinary investigation into his remarks, which did not lead to any formal disciplinary action, but warned him to pay attention to his use of language.[12][13]

SNP and Labour spokesmen criticised Ross for missing a debate on Universal Credit in October 2017, due to his commitments as a football referee.[14] Shortly afterwards, Ross decided he would no longer accept referee appointments while the UK Parliament is sitting.[15]

Football referee

Ross is a football referee. Ross was one of the officials for the 2015 Scottish Cup Final, assisting Willie Collum.[16] He continued his refereeing career after being elected to the Scottish Parliament,[17] and the UK Parliament.

In the House of Commons Register of Members' Interests, Ross declared earnings of more than £2,700 in August and September 2017 for his work as an assistant referee.[13][18] In October, Ross told the football authorities that he would no longer accept refereeing appointments during the week while the UK Parliament is sitting.[15] By December 2017 his declared income from 20 domestic and international games since becoming an MP was more than £11,000.[19]

References

  1. ↑ "Douglas Ross MP". UK Parliament.
  2. ↑ Northern Scot
  3. 1 2 "Election 2016: Highlands and Islands Scottish Parliament region". BBC News. 6 May 2016.
  4. ↑ Ross, Douglas Gordon. ukwhoswho.com. Who's Who. 2018 (February 2018 online ed.). A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc. Retrieved 13 February 2018.
  5. ↑ "Senior planning councillor ousted following Moray school closure row". STV News. 7 November 2014. Retrieved 6 May 2016.
  6. ↑ Robertson, John (25 November 2014). "Ousted Moray councillor to fight for Westminster seat". The Press and Journal. Retrieved 6 May 2016.
  7. ↑ "General election 2017: SNP deputy leader Angus Robertson loses seat". 9 June 2017 – via www.bbc.co.uk.
  8. ↑ "EU referendum debate: How did your MSP vote?". 26 May 2016 – via www.bbc.co.uk.
  9. ↑ Shedden, Sam (23 August 2017). "New Tory MP Douglas Ross slammed for anti-Traveller comment". The Scotsman. Retrieved 31 August 2017.
  10. ↑ Kirkaldy, Liam (24 August 2017). "Amnesty International calls for Douglas Ross to apologise over gypsy remarks". Holyrood. Retrieved 27 August 2017.
  11. ↑ "Tory MP Douglas Ross apologises for 'Gypsy traveller' comments". BBC News. 25 August 2017. Retrieved 27 August 2017.
  12. ↑ "Football official and MP's 'gypsy' comments probed by SFA". STV. Retrieved 27 August 2017.
  13. 1 2 "No formal SFA action over Douglas Ross 'gypsy' comments". STV News. STV. 14 September 2017. Retrieved 18 October 2017.
  14. ↑ "Tory MP misses vote to be assistant referee at Champions League game". BBC News. BBC. 18 October 2017. Retrieved 18 October 2017.
  15. 1 2 "Referee Tory MP Douglas Ross to miss World Cup". BBC News. BBC. 27 October 2017. Retrieved 27 October 2017.
  16. ↑ "Scottish Cup final: Willie Collum to referee Inverness CT v Falkirk". BBC Sport. BBC. 13 May 2015. Retrieved 8 May 2016.
  17. ↑ "Whistle blown on MSP Douglas Ross's refereeing clash". BBC News. BBC. 23 November 2016. Retrieved 14 September 2017.
  18. ↑ Commons, House of. "House of Commons - The Register of Members' Financial Interests (9 October 2017: Ross, Douglas )". publications.parliament.uk.
  19. ↑ Gordon, Tom (14 December 2017). "Scottish Tory MP Douglas Ross's outside football earnings top £11,000". The Sunday Herald. Retrieved 11 March 2018.
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by
Angus Robertson		 Member of Parliament for Moray
2017–present		 Incumbent
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