The Reform MSP who defected from the Tories this week should stand down, First Minister John Swinney has said.
Graham Simpson announced the move at a press conference alongside Reform UK leader Nigel Farage on Wednesday.
Speaking on Thursday, Mr Swinney called on Mr Simpson to quit Holyrood, while also hitting out at the “obnoxiousness” of his new party leader’s stance on immigration, which he said was “undermining our legitimate economic aspirations”.
The First Minister pointed to a members’ Bill proposed by Mr Simpson which would create a recall mechanism for MSPs who have been jailed or suspended from Holyrood for more than 10 sitting days.
“Graham Simpson is the author of a Bill about recalling members of Parliament when they do things that people disapprove of,” Mr Swinney said.
“I think there’ll be Conservative voters in Central Scotland who will be thinking ‘what is the guy I voted for doing now representing Farage?
“The hypocrisy of Graham Simpson is absolutely legendary on this – the author of the Bill on recall now sits for a different political party, so that hypocrisy is just clearly visible.”
Asked if Mr Simpson should stand down, the First Minister said: “Yes, I think he should.”
Mr Simpson was elected to the Central Scotland region in 2016 as a Conservative MSP and if he was to stand down, his former party would get to select his replacement.
The First Minister also hit out at Reform’s stance on immigration after a new poll this week suggested the issue had moved into the top three most important to Scots.
“I think it’s important that we have a reasoned debate about migration in our country,” Mr Swinney said.
“Scotland currently today faces a problem, which is that we have a declining working-age population.
“We need to have more people in Scotland working and contributing to our economy. I talk to sectors right across the country who are short of staff and need more staff to be recruited to deliver the services they want to deliver, so we need to attract more people to come to Scotland.
“Yet the immigration debate that has been fuelled by the obnoxiousness of Nigel Farage is undermining our legitimate economic aspirations to boost our population and to grow our economy.”
With Reform continuing to surge in the polls and Mr Farage targeting the SNP, the First Minister said he remains “very confident” Scots will be more interested in his party’s record in Government over the past 18 years than Reform.
Mr Simpson’s defection came 24 hours before former Labour councillor in Glasgow Audrey Dempsey announced she was joining Reform.
Ms Dempsey previously drew criticism after claiming there had been an increase in racist attacks on white children and teachers in schools in the city.
