John Mason will not be "spiteful" towards the SNP after being expelled from the party as he rules out triggering a by-election over fears it would hand Labour the seat.

The Glasgow Shettleston MSP is considering whether to appeal the SNP’s decision to expel him over his controversial comments on Gaza.

He initially had the whip withdrawn in August after stating that he did not believe Israel was committing genocide in Palestine.

Mr Mason now sits as an independent after the SNP’s member’s conduct committee announced he had been expelled, arguing the MSP had showed no “contrition or awareness”.

He said he was “quite sad” about the decision but now has 21 days to decide whether he will appeal.

But Mr Mason told The Herald it is not his intention to be “bitter” towards his former party as he said he will mostly vote with the SNP.

And while he said he is still “broadly” committed to standing down at the 2026 Scottish Parliament elections, Mr Mason has no intention to resign as an MSP early.

The 67-year-old said: “When you stand for election, you basically promise to represent your constituents for five years. That’s what I did.

“I think it wouldn’t be right for me to stand down.

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“I don’t think it will help the SNP because there’s a reasonable chance for Labour to win the seat.

“So I don’t want to damage the SNP. And nothing has changed since I was elected in 2021. My views are exactly the same on Israel and everything else when I was elected.”

Mr Mason was first represented the SNP as a councillor in the late 1990s, running the SNP as leader of the opposition in Glasgow City Council.

He won the Glasgow East seat from Labour in the House of Commons in a 2008 by-election before losing the seat in 2010 and entering the Scottish Parliament in 2011.

“Whenever something like this happens, everybody calls for a by-election. That’s the way politics works. I can see no reason or any advantage,” he added.

His expulsion came after he took to X/Twitter to claim: “If Israel wanted to commit genocide, they would have killed ten times as many.”

The comments were immediately condemned from those within his own party, including former Westminster leader Ian Blackford, who labelled Mr Mason an “embarrassment” and “not fit to represent anyone”.

The SNP described his comments as “utterly abhorrent”.

It is not the first time the backbencher has made his personal views known, with controversy caused over his perspective on same-sex relationships, gender reforms and abortion.

During his suspension, he attended buffer zone protests on the day safe-access zones came into force.

But he told The Herald he would only consider voting against the SNP when similar social issues are being debated in Holyrood.

He said: “Clearly, I’ve voted against the SNP Government on some things like gender recognition reform so if something like that came up again… it’s around these social issues like abortion that I’ve maybe not voted with.

“If I’m not in the party obviously I have got the freedom in a sense on every vote.

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“But I don’t think being spiteful or bitter is the right thing to do.

“From my perspective, nothing has changed. I’m still committed to independence, that’s why I’m in the SNP. I was elected for the SNP so I think of myself as that and I’m committed to the SNP, and largely following the whip on what voting would be.”

In the letter notifying him he had been expelled from the SNP, the Glasgow Shettleston MSP was told the initial complaint which led to his suspension had been upheld by the member conduct committee.

It said Mr Mason’s “actions could impact negatively on perceptions of the party by the public and by SNP members”.

“Your continued insistence that you were the arbiter of what is considered to be genocide was felt by the committee to be unacceptable and offensive and was likely to damage the party,” he was told.

The committee ruled Mr Mason was likely to make similar statements in the future, making expulsion the only “appropriate” sanction.

Mr Mason stood by his comments after being expelled. He said: “I continue to believe that we should be able to tolerate a variety of views within the party as long as we are all committed to Scottish independence.”

An SNP spokeswoman said: "John Mason has the right to appeal against the decision to expel him, and so the issue remains live and we will not comment prior to its conclusion."