Highlands and Islands MSP Ross reflects on year of great change as 2025 dawns
There is a saying that the only constant thing in life is change, and that has certainly been true over the past year for Douglas Ross MSP.
The run up to the General Election dramatically saw the former Moray MP enter race for the Conservatives to represent the new Aberdeenshire North and Moray East Westminster seat - ultimately losing out to the SNP’s Seamus Logan - and stepping back from his role as Scottish Tory leader.
Since then, he has been focusing on his role as a Highlands and Islands Conservative MSP. This has seen him take on the convener role on the cross-party Education, Children and Young People Committee at Holyrood.
Reflecting on the year gone by, Mr Ross said: “Things have certainly changed considerably for me over the last year.
“I’m of the view that you can’t change things which are passed; looking back, I’d maybe do some things differently or better, but these are decisions which have been made and are done.
“What is certain is the fact I’m determined to continue the job of representing people. I’ve been doing it since 2007 when I was first elected as a councillor.
“Having the opportunity to be the MP for the area I was born and brought up in was a great privilege and I’m still representing the area in the Scottish Parliament.”
The change in roles has allowed him to get his teeth into a number of very different issues.
He continued: “Now I’m not the party leader I’m in Holyrood more often and it’s given me more time to raise local issues.
“For example, I used the final debate of the year to raise the ongoing issue of the [landslip at] Union Bridge at Keith, which has attracted a petition with over 350 signatures, and hopefully the government will get up here and get it sorted out.
“This year is the 20th anniversary of the murder of Nairn banker Alistair Wilson and the family are becoming increasingly frustrated that we still seem to be no nearer in catching those responsible. I put a question to the First Minister about this and he agreed to meet with the family personally to discuss it. I feel that was a real result and I hope we’ll see some progress.”
Mr Swinney has since made good on his promise to Mr Ross and met with Mr Wilson’s family.
One of the benefits of having not quite as hectic a lifestyle split between London and Edinburgh is the opportunity to spend more time with wife Krystle and his two young sons, Alistair and James. Not having to shoot off to London of a Monday means, for example, he can now drop his sons off at school and nursery.
Having a young family has also helped shape the focus of his interests at Holyrood, not least being elected convener of the cross-party Education, Children and Young People Committee.
“Having two young boys I view the work of the Education, Children and Young People Committee as very important.
“I’ve raised education issues before - with a total of three First Ministers - but at that point hadn’t really done a lot of work on it. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed getting up to speed and we’ve got a number of Bills coming up in the new year which we’ll be examining.”
Among the emerging issues for the committee is that of the Higher History exams sat by school students in 2024 in Scottish schools, which will see the head of the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) and the Education Minister called in to face scrutiny. Following the exams, there had been accusations that the marking and grading process applied effectively made attaining a higher grade more difficult than would otherwise have been anticipated. There was a 13 per cent decline in the over pass rate for Higher History.
Issues surrounding education have not been the only challenges the year just passed have brought.
Mr Ross said: “I continue to get a lot of casework about the NHS, in particularly maternity care at Dr Gray’s Hospital in Elgin.
“We were promised back in 2018 that mums wouldn’t have to travel to ARI to give birth but it’s still happening. Recently, we had a major incident declared at ARI.
“Many constituents have concerns over the backlog in NHS operations and treatment.
“Closer to home, I’ve been supporting the Save Our Surgeries in Burghead and Hopeman.
“Infrastructure is another major issue and the north-east seems to have been forgotten by the SNP government. In particular they have been backsliding over their commitment to dual the A96.”
Looking ahead to what 2025 may hold, he added: “This year will be the first one for a while where we won’t have elections of some sort scheduled.
“A benefit of this is that it will allow us to concentrate on legislation.
“However, like it or not, 2025 will form part of the long campaign for the 2026 Scottish Parliament elections. Scottish Conservatives leader Russell Findlay has already started developing a suite of policies which will be very appealing.”
