Tory MSP to quit at next election

TORY MSP Adam Tomkins has announced he is to quit Holyrood at next year’s Scottish election.

The prominent Conservative said it would be a ‘wrench’ to leave his role as an MSP, but he plans to return to being a law professor at the University of Glasgow.

He continued his position as John Millar Professor of Public Law on a part-time basis after being elected in 2016, and intends to take it on full-time when he steps down.

Mr Tomkins said: ‘Serving as one of our party’s elected representatives for Glasgow has been an enormous privilege and leaving the Scottish parliament will be a wrench. I am not leaving for political reasons. I wish Jackson [Carlaw] and his team every success.

‘My reasons are personal, to do with the work I want to pursue and to do with the kind of father I aspire to be to my four children. I know I will be stepping down in circumstances where the party is so much stronger than it was five years ago.’

Mr Tomkins, pictured, was one of 31 Tory MSPs elected to Holyrood in 2016 in what was a record result for the party, then led by Ruth Davidson, which saw it overtake Labour to become the main opposition at Holyrood. Jackson Carlaw, who became the Scottish Conservative leader after Miss Davidson quit last August, said: ‘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.’