This has been without doubt the hardest decision of my life

I HAVE made clear already today that the allegations printed in the Mail on Sunday are false and defamatory.

‘This is a political smear and I will continue to fight to clear my name. I will see this investigatory process through to a conclusion.

‘Anonymous and malicious allegations this year have made my life a living hell. It has been nothing short of traumatic. I have suffered a level of personal abuse that has affected my health, my mental wellbeing and my staff. It has been a level of abuse that I never imagined possible.

‘I always believed politics was about noble pursuits and doing what you believed to be best for your country. My experience is that our politics is now so poisonous that we will never attract good, honest and decent people in the first place.

‘I have therefore made the most difficult decision that I could ever make. I have decided that I will stand down as the Scottish Conservative and Unionist candidate for Aberdeen South.

‘I simply cannot thank my family, friends, staff and everybody who has shown me love, kindness and support for the past two years enough – and for the years before when I was an MSP and councillor.

‘Serving as the MP for Aberdeen South has been the absolute privilege of my life. It has been a job that I have loved more than any other and nothing can ever come close to being able to stand up for our city and to help people who need you.

‘This has been without doubt the hardest decision of my life. I remain confident that the ongoing parliamentary standards process will find in my favour, and that these baseless claims will be shown up for what they are.

‘As I have already said I will continue to explore all options available to me in response to the defamatory and damaging allegations made by Mr Sweeney.

‘This General Election campaign is hugely important for the future of Scotland, and indeed the very future of our Union. Therefore, I wish my successor candidate all the very best in their efforts to protect Scotland’s place in the UK and to sort Brexit.