A SCOTTISH Tory MSP has announced his will stand down at next year’s Holyrood election.
Adam Tomkins, who has been MSP for Glasgow since 2016 will not contest next year’s poll and will return full-time to his role as the John Millar Professor of public law at Glasgow University.
He said: “Serving as one of our party’s elected representatives for Glasgow has been an enormous privilege and leaving the Scottish Parliament in 2021 will be a wrench.
“I am not leaving the Parliament for political reasons. I wish Jackson and his team every success.
“My reasons are personal, to do with the work I want to pursue in the coming years and to do with the kind of father I aspire to be to my four children.”
He added: “I know that I will be stepping down in circumstances where the party is so much stronger than it was five years ago.
“Crucially, however, we have a momentous election in only nine months’ time. Between now and then we must all work tirelessly to ensure that we return and elect the highest possible number of Conservative candidates, not only in Glasgow, but right across the country.”
Before being elected to the Scottish Parliament, Professor Tomkins previously worked as constitutional advisor to the House of Lords' Constitution Committee before becoming an advisor to former Scottish Secretary David Mundell.
He has been a fierce critic of Scottish Independence and has was his party's spokesperson on communities, social security, the constitution and equalities after winning his list seat in 2016. He is currently the Scottish Conservatives' strategy spokesperson.
Former Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson has already confirmed she will not contest next year's election for her Edinburgh Central seat after quitting her leadership role in August 2019, a position she had held for eight years.
Jackson Carlaw, Scottish Conservative leader added: “I would like to thank Adam both for his personal support and advice, and also for the immense contribution he has made to the Scottish Conservative parliamentary group and the party as a whole.
“Adam has been an invaluable source of energy and intellect, compassion and humour.
“While Adam has made important interventions on the union, his work on social deprivation, drug addiction and live music in Glasgow truly demonstrate the breadth of his interests and capability.
“We will all miss him and we wish him well.”
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