Douglas Ross (Scottish politician)
Douglas Gordon Ross (born 27 January 1983) is a Scottish politician who has served as Leader of the Scottish Conservative Party since 2020 and Leader of the Opposition in Scotland since 2021. He served as Member of the UK Parliament (MP) for Moray from 2017 to 2024. Ross currently serves as a Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for the Highlands and Islands, having been elected as a regional list MSP in 2021. He was previously MSP for the region from 2016 to 2017.
Douglas Ross
Born in Aberdeen, Ross was educated at Forres Academy. After graduating from the Scottish Agricultural College, he worked on a dairy farm. A member of the Scottish Liberal Democrats in his youth, he switched to the Scottish Conservatives and began his political career as a Scottish Parliament researcher and then a councillor in Moray. He stood unsuccessfully for the Moray UK Parliament constituency in the 2010 and 2015 general elections and for the Scottish Parliament constituency in 2011 and 2016. In the latter election, he was elected as a regional list MSP as one of the additional members for the Highlands and Islands.
Ross was elected to the House of Commons at the 2017 general election, defeating SNP deputy leader Angus Robertson, and was re-elected in 2019 with a reduced majority. He served as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Scotland under Prime Minister Boris Johnson for six months. He resigned in May 2020, in protest at Dominic Cummings continuing to serve as Johnson's adviser after breaking lockdown rules during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Following the resignation of Jackson Carlaw in July 2020, Ross announced his candidature in the August 2020 Scottish Conservative Party leadership election. Five days later, he was elected leader unopposed. He ran on a joint ticket with former Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson. Since he served in the House of Commons and was not an MSP, Davidson led the party in the Scottish Parliament until the 2021 Scottish Parliament election. He announced he would stand down as the leader of the Scottish Conservatives after the 2024 United Kingdom general election.
Early life and career[edit]
Douglas Gordon Ross was born in Aberdeen on 27 January 1983 to Sandy and Lesley Ross.[1][2] He first attended Alves Primary School and the state secondary Forres Academy before going on to study agriculture at the Scottish Agricultural College.[3][2][4] After graduating, he worked on a dairy farm near Forres, Moray, where his father had been working as a cattleman.[5] He was a member of the Scottish Liberal Democrats in his youth but later became a Conservative voter.[2]
Policies and views[edit]
In line with the Scottish Conservatives, Ross supports British unionism and is opposed to a second referendum on Scottish independence.[47] Following his election as leader of the Scottish Conservative Party, Ross stated that he wanted to represent "working-class unionists in Scotland."[48] However, he has also criticised what he views as too much centralisation around London and has expressed support for some federalist ideas, including House of Lords reform.[49] In the run-up to the 2021 Scottish Parliament election, Ross proposed a "pro-UK, anti-referendum coalition" with other Scottish unionist parties although this was not supported by Scottish Labour.[50]
Ross backed Remain during the EU referendum, but after the vote he stated Parliament should complete Brexit to "deliver the will of the British people". He voted against Theresa May's Brexit withdrawal agreement at the first round of voting and was absent for the second following his wife going into labour. During the 2019 Conservative Party leadership election, Ross initially endorsed Mark Harper before backing Boris Johnson in the final round.[51]
Ross has also expressed support for power of recall in the Scottish parliament, and, in 2021, proposed what he called "Mackay's Law" (named after former SNP Finance Minister Derek Mackay), whereby MSPs who have not shown up for work for over six months but still collect pay must be forced to resign.[48]
Football referee[edit]
A qualified football official, Ross is a top-level assistant referee in his spare time. He was one of the officials for the 2015 Scottish Cup Final, assisting Willie Collum,[52] and the 2018 Scottish Cup Final, assisting Kevin Clancy. He has run the line in several editions of Scotland's biggest club fixture, the Old Firm Derby, and has been involved in continental UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League ties and international FIFA World Cup and UEFA European Championship qualifiers.[53] He continued his refereeing career after being elected to the Scottish Parliament[54] and also officiated matches whilst an MP in the UK House of Commons.[55]
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.[15][56] In October of that year, Ross told the football authorities that he would no longer accept refereeing appointments during the week while the UK Parliament is sitting.[17] By December 2017, his declared income from 20 domestic and international games since becoming an MP was more than £11,000.[57]
In December 2018, BBC Sport reported that Ross had reduced the number of refereeing appointments due to his work commitments as an MP.[58] At this time, he also argued that the Scottish Football Association should not appoint fully professional referees.[58]
In August 2020, Ross apologised for not attending a VJ Day event as a result of previously agreeing to officiate at a Scottish Premiership game between Kilmarnock and St Johnstone. Ross said he would donate his match fee to the charity Help for Heroes.[59] In October 2020, he was a linesman at Wembley for England's 3–0 friendly win against Wales.[60]
In November 2020, FIFA were asked to investigate a complaint by a member of the Scottish Football Supporters Association that a Conservative Party leaflet distributed to homes in Scotland included a photograph of Ross as a match official.[61]
Ross stopped officiating games in January 2021 due to injury.[62] He resumed his refereeing career in July 2022, while both Holyrood and Westminster were in recess.[62]