FERGUS EWING will stand down as an SNP MSP in next year’s Holyrood election, but has not ruled out running as an independent.

Sitting in the Scottish Parliament since it was formally reconvened in 1999 by his mother, SNP pioneer Winnie Ewing, he went on to hold a number of ministerial posts after the SNP gained power in 2007.

In recent years, however, he was increasingly at odds with party chiefs as a vocal critic of their coalition deal with the Greens, briefly losing the whip after he voted against then Green minister Lorna Slater in a motion of no confidence.

Writing of his “great sadness” in the Press & Journal newspaper, he said: “I simply cannot defend the record of the SNP government to fail to deliver on its long-standing pledges to dual the A9 and A96 — both so vital for my constituency.”

He may consider standing next year as an independent candidate next year if progress wasn’t made, he said, warning: “The SNP just is no longer the party for all of Scotland, as it has been for most of my 50 years as a member.”