Scottish Conservative leader Douglas Ross has said there are similarities between his job and officiating at football matches – saying he receives an “awful lot of flak” in both roles.
The Tory MP has continued in his role as an assistant referee since becoming Scottish Tory leader – though he has vowed he would give it up if he became First Minister.
He said he had no regrets “at all” about succeeding Jackson Carlaw as leader of the Scottish Conservatives, after he quit dramatically last year.
Mr Ross said that both his jobs were “not the most popular of things for people to do”.
But speaking at an online event hosted by the Centre for Policy Studies, he said: “I actually find it quite similar, being a political leader in Scotland and being a match official, you’ve got to take quick decisions sometimes, you have got to believe in your convictions, have the courage of your convictions, take an awful lot of flak.”
Mr Ross, who is hoping to return to Holyrood after May’s Scottish Parliament elections, added that he was “thoroughly enjoying the job as leader of the Scottish Conservatives”.
The MP stated: “I don’t underestimate right now the challenges we face in the country with the elections coming up but also with the Covid pandemic.
“But I am relishing the opportunity to get out on whatever the campaign trail will look like in a few months’ time. I think we have got a lot to offer, we have done a lot of work developing our policies as Scottish Conservatives since I became leader, and there is a lot we are going to build on in the weeks and months ahead.”
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