THE Scottish Conservatives last night suspended their top spin doctor pending an investigation into whether he improperly helped one of the candidates in the party's leadership race.
Ramsay Jones, who as a party employee is supposed to stay neutral, was removed from his duties after attending a strategy meeting at the home of Glasgow list MSP Ruth Davidson.
Mr Jones, 51, made the 150-mile round trip from his house in Dunbar, despite being warned by Scottish party chairman Andrew Fulton just days earlier not to take sides.
Mr Jones’s attendance at Ms Davidson’s flat in the West End on September 18 was revealed at the weekend by the Sunday Herald, our sister paper.
The investigation prompted the campaign teams of two of Ms Davidson’s leadership rivals, Murdo Fraser and Jackson Carlaw, to demand action.
The Scottish party suspended Mr Jones as its director of media after pressure from Tory HQ in London.
The move is the latest embarrassment for Ms Davidson, 32, who was only elected in May and is the least experienced candidate in the race. She was recently forced to sack her parliamentary assistant Ross McFarlane after he was caught on camera drunkenly burning an EU flag in a Glasgow street as a companion made sectarian remarks.
Ms Davidson is also being investigated by the UK’s information watchdog after her campaign contacted party members via private emails.
A spokesman for Mr Carlaw said: “This is a very serious matter and casts doubt on the judgment of Ruth Davidson, who allowed herself to be put in this position.”
Liz Smith, Mr Fraser’s campaign manager, said: “I received a call from the chairman’s office this afternoon to let me know that Ramsay Jones has been suspended. I do not wish to comment further.”
A spokesman for Ms Davidson said: “We expect this to be resolved quickly.”
Mr Jones was unavailable for comment last night.
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