It has been repeatedly described by some in the past few days as "the poisoned chalice".

The position of transport minister has now seen two quit due to ill health in the space of a year-and-a-half – amidst continuing concerns over the state of Scotland's lifeline ferry services being run by ageing vessels as well as criticism over the amount of investment in the roads network.

Kevin Stewart decided to call a halt to his time on Tuesday, one day short of ten weeks in the transport driving seat.

Rewind the clock to January 24, 2022, and a previous incumbent Graeme Dey also resigned citing "health-related reasons". He was in the post for just eight months.

The Angus South MSP and former sports journalist, who at the time was 59, was appointed to the post after the 2021 elections.

He said he had found himself unable to give the role "everything it rightly requires and deserves".

He had previously said that the transport brief was "busier" and a "lot more intense".

Mr Stewart, who was 55 on Saturday, was more explicit in his explanation.

The politician, who previously served as depute leader of Aberdeen City Council and was first elected to the Scottish Parliament in 2011 said that since October last year, he had bouts of poor mental health, with a low ebb in early December of last year and that over the last week he had once again been feeling unwell.

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He told the First Minister that he felt he can "no longer put in the hours required to serve both my constituents and hold ministerial office, whilst also trying to maintain good mental health".

Nevertheless the man who was minister for mental wellbeing and social care in 2021 before being handed the transport brief said being part of the Scottish Government had been the "greatest honour" of his life.

On social media, the now former minister hit back after one sniped in a message to the First Minister: "If he can't serve you, he can't serve his constituents".

The Aberdeen Central MSP responded: "Just for your information, I have just been dealing with correspondence from constituents.

"Please don’t make assumptions about what people can or cannot do when they are unwell.

"I will always put my constituents first."

Nevertheless, there has been some concern amongst some ferry user group officials that the pressures of the job may put some off taking it.

One said: "I can't see a particular queue of willing volunteers to take on this particular mess".

Mr Stewart's resignation emerged two days after an eye-catching display of contempt for the state of the ferries was organised by the South Uist Business Impact Group.

Some 500 residents, 200 cars, 40 vans and 20 lorries converged on Lochboisdale – the port which links South Uist to the mainland – in a protest over CalMac's decision to cancel almost every ferry service in June to the island due to continuing problems with its ageing fleet.

One South Uist-based professional photographer Carla Regler provided striking images and video using a drone to The Herald free of charge to help promote the cause.

The power of social and traditional media saw them later circulated across the UK and beyond.

The Herald:

Ms Regler said she was more than happy to get involved because she and her husband also run a guest house that was suffering due to ferry breakdowns.

"We are losing business all the time. Guests can't come to us. They cancel at the last minute and it creates extra work and headaches for everyone," she said.

Any new appointment made by First Minister Humza Yousaf will usher in a fourth face at the transport bridge since January 2022.

And there is a growing chorus of views that the scale of the transport brief means there should be a dedicated transport secretary with a place facing Mr Yousaf around the Scottish cabinet table.

There was an ipso facto transport secretary until Nicola Sturgeon's SNP formed a new Scottish Government in May 2021.

Michael Matheson had been cabinet secretary of transport, infrastructure and connectivity from 2018 before the role was retitled, post-election.

After the SNP and Scottish Greens entered a power-sharing arrangement, Mr Matheson became Net Zero, Energy and Transport Secretary, while Mr Dey became the real face of transport with a new ministerial appointment.

Mr Matheson was shuffled off to health at the end of March this year when Mr Yousaf appointed his cabinet.

His replacement Màiri McAllan joined the cabinet for the first time with a new title of net zero and just transition secretary.

While 'transport' was omitted from her title, it was she who faced up to MSPs on Tuesday about the ferry debacle in Mr Stewart's place.

The Herald:

John Daniel Peteranna of the South Uist Business Impact Group, which organised Sunday's demo, said: "The job is a poisoned chalice.

"The new first minister didn't even give it a cabinet secretary portfolio. It seems to be a secondary thought to have a transport minister. It shows the weight the First Minister gives to it, which seems to be not a lot."

The train drivers union ASLEF echoed that view.

ASLEF Scottish organiser Kevin Lindsay said they understood the scale and complexity of the transport brief and the "obvious difficulties for any minister in keeping on top of it".

He said: "Transport overall is a hugely important policy area and it simply beggars belief that the Scottish Government has no cabinet minister with direct responsibility for Transport.

"The First Minister has the opportunity to rectify his mistake and ensure when replacing Kevin Stewart that he adjusts his cabinet and ensures that there is a minister with obvious responsibility for transport ... We urge him to do so when he replaces Kevin Stewart."

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