HIGHLANDS MSP Gail Ross is to stand down at the next election to spend more time with her young family.

The politician from Wick said yesterday she was finding it difficult being so far away from her five-year-old son.

Ross said she had spoken to Parliament bosses about the possibility of remote voting and video meeting.

The Caithness, Sutherland and Ross representative also said the sheer scale of her vast parliamentary constituency meant it had been near impossible to regularly visit every corner.

Ross, from Wick, said the decision to step down had “not been an easy one”.

READ MORE: SNP's Bruce Crawford to step down at 2021 Holyrood election

But she said: “The decision has been reached due to the demands of travelling to Edinburgh and being away from home for sometimes five days a week, every week.

“I want to be able to spend more time with my family, to watch my son grow up and to be more involved in local issues, things I cannot presently do.”

She added: “The sheer size of the area I represent also means that I am having difficulty in reaching every part of the constituency on a regular basis and I am not able to represent my constituents in the way they deserve and rightly expect.

“I recently asked the Standards, Procedures and Public Appointments Committee to ask if there is any possibility that members could video in to meetings and remote vote.

The National:

“If we are to encourage into politics more young people with families who live far away from Edinburgh, this has to be considered.”

Fellow SNP MSPs James Dornan (above), Richard Lyle and Bruce Crawford have already announced they will not be seeking re-election next year.

Other MSPs stepping down from Holyrood in 2021 include former Scottish Tory leader Ruth Davidson, Labour’s Neil Findlay and Green John Finnie.