MSP Ballantyne quits Tories

Mrs Ballantyne, formerly a Selkirkshire councillor and leader of the Conservative group at Scottish Borders Council, says she is no longer a “good fit” in the party.

No stranger to controversy, she was roundly defeated in her bid to lead the party north of the Border by Jackson Carlaw by 4,917 votes to 1,581 earlier this year.

When Mr Carlaw resigned as leader six months earlier, she agreed to back new leader Douglas Ross “on the understanding that we will be a centre right Conservative, Boris backing, Brexit positive, anti nat party”.

However, on Tuesday, she shared her letter of resignation from the party whip on her Twitter feed, and intends to stay in the Scottish Parliament as an independent.

Mrs Ballantyne tweeted: “It is with great sadness that I have decided to resign today from @ScotTories. That said, I recognise and respect the work Douglas, Ruth, and their team are putting in to re-shape the future of the Party and I wish them and all my colleagues in @ScotParl the very best.

In her letter to Mr Ross and Ruth Davidson, she wrote: “As Douglas indicated in his address to our Party Conference, there are differences arising for some, myself included, in the party’s positioning on police and, indeed, its principles.

“Sadly, for me, this means I no longer feel that the party and I are a good fit.”

In her time at Holyrood, Mrs Ballantyne has made several controversial comments ... not least in 2018 when she rejected criticism of the Universal Credit two-child cap.

Then, she said: “The two-child limit is about fairness.

“It is fair that people on benefits cannot have as many children as they like while people who work and pay their way and do not claim benefits have to make decisions about the number of children they can have.”

That statement was described by SNP MSP Tom Arthur as “one of the most disgraceful speeches that I have ever heard in my two and a half years in this Parliament – six minutes of pompous Victorian moralising that would have been better suited to the pages of a Dickens novel.”

Galashiels Conservative councillor Euan Jardine, who backed her campaign for leadership, said: “I was saddened to hear that Michelle has decided to leave the Scottish Conservatives.

“She has very strong conservative values and I have always admired the fact she sticks by her principles and values no matter which way the political wind is blowing.

“That is a very rare trait these days in politics.

“I may no longer be able to call her a colleague but I will continue to call her a friend.”