SNP FARMING stalwarts Gail Ross MSP and Stewart Stevenson MSP have announced their intention to retire from parliament at the 2021 election.

Ms Ross announced she will not be standing for re-election due to the restrictive travel commitments involved with travelling to Edinburgh. The Caithness, Sutherland and Ross MSP has called for the Scottish Parliament to consider allowing MSPs to vote remotely and use video conferencing, so as not to force future politicians to have to make the same decision.

She has been hugely active in representing the views of the Highlands and Islands as well as wider rural Scotland and paid considerable attention to farming issues such as sheep worrying, the decline of local abattoirs and in a recent parliamentary debate on climate change, she paid tribute to the role farmers play in tackling ambitious climate change targets.

Mr Stevenson was first elected to the Banff and Buchan Constituency in 2001 which later became Banffshire and Buchan Coast under boundary changes. He served in the Scottish Government as Minister for Transport, Infrastructure and Climate Change and Minister for Environment and Climate Change, taking through Scotland’s world-leading Climate Change Act in 2009.

Argyll and Bute MSP Michael Russell, who is also the Scottish Government’s Cabinet Secretary for the Constitution, Europe and External Affairs, will also be standing down next May. Mr Russell has played an active role in representing and supporting the needs of Scotland’s rural areas.