The Holyrood exodus continues as more SNP MSPs throw in the towel ahead of the 2026 election. While some of the party’s Westminster politicians gear up to contest the next Scottish parliament election, a number of famous faces are stepping down – including one Michael Matheson, who announced on Sunday that he would not be standing for re-election. How very interesting.
The SNP’s former health secretary was forced out of his ministerial job after an unedifying few months, where he was accused of using a parliamentary device on holiday and, incredibly, attempting to make taxpayers pick up the tab. After serving in the Scottish Parliament for over a quarter of a decade, the £11,000 iPad scandal left a rather large black mark by Matheson’s name. Now the politician has now finally announced his intention to quit next year, Mr S has compiled a list of some of the worst parts of the whole debacle…
Matheson accused of lying to press over iPad use
In November 2023, after the pressure piled on the then-health secretary to come clean about the truth behind his iPad bill, Matheson addressed the Holyrood Chamber and confessed his sons had used the device – and a rather lot of data – to watch the football while on holiday in Morocco. But while the teary speech may have softened up some viewers, the Scottish lobby were not impressed. For Matheson seemed to have forgotten that when asked whether there had been ‘any personal use’ of the device – or whether anyone else could have used the iPad – he had flatly replied ‘no’. His subsequent parliamentary statement provoked outrage from opposition politicians, with then-deputy leader of the Scottish Tories Meghan Gallacher fuming at the time: ‘Michael Matheson’s position is untenable because he admitted lying to the public and the press.’ Ouch.
Matheson quits ministerial role to avoid becoming a distraction… after becoming a distraction
After weeks of probing the curious case of Michael Matheson’s iPad, the then-health secretary eventually decided to step down from his Cabinet job in February 2024. In a letter to his friend and then-first minister Humza Yousaf, Matheson nodded to an ongoing investigation into his conduct by the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body. He went on to nobly insist:
It is in the best interest of myself and the government for me to now step down to ensure this does not become a distraction to taking forward the government’s agenda.
Not that almost six months of to-ing and fro-ing over the truth did any damage to the SNP government, eh?
Ex-SNP minister accused of lying to parliament’s Presiding Officer
Not content with hiding details from the press and public, Matheson also came under fire at the beginning of 2024 for misleading Holyrood’s Presiding Officer. Matheson met with Alison Johnstone after he became aware that his sons had used his iPad to hotspot the football. Yet despite this, according to Sunday Mail reports at the time, the ex-SNP minister told Johnstone that he had no idea why his data usage had been so high.
A source close to Matheson told the Herald about the whole palaver that: ‘His behaviour throughout this whole scandal has been very unlike the Michael we’re used to and it’s hard to understand how and why he managed to mess this up so badly.’ You can say that again!
Matheson breached MSP code of conduct
Dear oh dear. In March 2024, the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body’s investigation results came back – and revealed that the disgraced ex-minister did indeed breach the MSP code of conduct in his handling of the iPad palaver. The rule-breaking charges came after Matheson was deemed to fall short of parliamentary standards for improper use of expenses – and prompted claims the then-first minister Humza Yousaf was ‘complicit’ in Matheson’s attempts to mislead parliament. Quite the mess…
Disgraced MSP still accepts £12,000 golden goodbye
Oh, to have some shame. Despite the tumultuous time Matheson subjected himself to in his handling of the iPad scandal – and the 27-day suspension and 54-day salary ban he received as punishment – the MSP still accepted a £12,000 ‘golden goodbye’ despite calls he forgo the payment. What made the move all the more extraordinary was that in the early 2000s, Matheson himself spent time calling for an end to, er, ‘golden goodbyes’. Talk about hypocrisy, eh?
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