Douglas Ross (Scottish politician)

Ross was born on 27 January 1983 to Sandy and Lesley Ross. He was educated at Forres Academy and the Scottish Agricultural College.[1]

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.[2] 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.[3]

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 after being placed first on the regional list.[4]

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.[5] Having gained a seat at Westminster, Ross resigned from his seat in the Scottish Parliament. He supported the UK remaining within the EU in the 2016 membership referendum.[6]

In 2017, Ross said 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.[7][8] Ross apologised for his use of language.[9] 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.[10][11]

SNP and Labour spokesmen criticised Ross for missing a debate on Universal Credit in October 2017, due to his commitments as a football referee.[12] Shortly afterwards, Ross decided he would no longer accept referee appointments while the UK Parliament is sitting.[13]

Following his re-election as MP for Moray at the 2019 general election, Ross was appointed Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Scotland, replacing Colin Clark who had lost his seat in the election.[14] Ross resigned his role on 26 May 2020, in protest against Dominic Cummings continuing to serve as chief advisor to the Prime Minister after having travelled over 260 miles from London to Durham during the COVID-19 lockdown period.[15][16]

Ross is also a qualified football referee. Ross was one of the officials for the 2015 Scottish Cup Final, assisting Willie Collum.[17] He continued his refereeing career after being elected to the Scottish Parliament,[18] 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.[11][19] In October, Ross told the football authorities that he would no longer accept refereeing appointments during the week while the UK Parliament is sitting.[13] By December 2017 his declared income from 20 domestic and international games since becoming an MP was more than £11,000.[20]

In December 2018, BBC Sport reported that Ross had reduced the number of refereeing appointments due to his work commitments as an MP.[21] At this time, Ross also argued that the Scottish Football Association should not appoint fully professional referees.[21]

He married his wife, Krystle, in 2015. They have one son who was born in 2019.[1][22]

• Profile at Parliament of the United Kingdom
• Contributions in Parliament at Hansard
• Voting record at Public Whip
• Record in Parliament at TheyWorkForYou