A Scottish Tory MSP has said he “couldn’t stand” at the next election because the party’s manifesto is likely to contain things he “fundamentally disagrees” with.

Maurice Golden said he suspects the party’s upcoming Holyrood manifesto will say things he would “struggle” to support.

After ten years as a front-line Tory politician at Holyrood, Golden announced in April that he would not run for re-election next year.

Since then, he said he’s had offers to join “every other party”, except Greens and Reform.

“I think [the Tory party] has moved so far away from where I started. It’s like a different era from 2021,” the North East MSP told the Holyrood Sources Podcast.

“You look at the press releases, everything’s shambolic, shameful, and ultimately that’s then mirrored by other parties, an

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