Scottish Finance Secretary Derek Mackay, 42, has resigned Scottish Finance Minister after it was revealed he had been ‘pestering’ a sixteen-year-old boy over social media for the last six months. Mackay contacted the boy out of the blue last summer, continuing to send messages and suggest meeting the boy for six months.

In one late-night exchange, the senior SNP politician asked boy “Are our chats between us?”, going onto say “Cool, to be honest, I think you are really cute… Just as long as you know, but you can delete that message lol.”

Mackay’s resignation comes just hours before he was set to deliver the budget in Holyrood. Mackay has apologised “unreservedly” to the boy and his family.

Read Mackay’s statement in full below…

“I take full responsibility for my actions. I have behaved foolishly and I am truly sorry.
“I apologise unreservedly to the individual involved and his family.
“I spoke last night with the First Minister and tendered my resignation with immediate effect.
“Serving in government has been a huge privilege and I am sorry to have let colleagues and supporters down.”