A TORY MSP who quit his frontbench role over a £50,000 lobbying row has been cleared of wrongdoing by Scotland’s ethics watchdog.

Peter Chapman stood down as his party's rural affairs spokesman in May after a complaint was lodged with the Commissioner for Ethical Standards in Public Life.

The North East MSP admitted making a “foolish mistake” by lobbying Aberdeenshire councillors to support a planning application from a body in which he had a £50,000 stake.

The 68-year-old failed to disclose his shareholding in the Aberdeen and Northern Marts (ANM) farming co-operative, which is expanding its operation in Inverurie.

“This is a very important part of the strategy for the group going forward and I’m just hoping that this application gets looked on in a positive manner,” he said in a voicemail left for an SNP councillor, and which was leaked to the Daily Record.

Within hours, Scottish Tory leader Ruth Davidson accepted his resignation “with regret”.

The SNP said at the time that Mr Chapman had been “caught out” and was right to quit “before he was sacked in disgrace”.

But after an investigation, the ethics commissioner found no evidence Mr Chapman took part in “paid advocacy”, or paid lobbying, which is banned under the MSPs code of conduct.

MSPs on Holyrood’s standards committee confirmed the finding on Thursday.

In a statement, SNP committee convener Bill kidd said: “The Committee has considered a complaint from [SNP activist] Mr Ricky Taylor about Peter Chapman MSP.

“The complaint is that Peter Chapman may have breached the Code of Conduct for MSPs by failing to disclose his shareholding in Aberdeen Northern Marts Group (ANM Group) when making representations on behalf of the company to members of the Garioch Area Committee of Aberdeenshire Council.

“The Committee is unanimous in the decision reached on the complaint. It agrees with the findings in fact and conclusion of the Commissioner that there is no evidence to suggest that Peter Chapman’s actions amounted to Paid Advocacy.

“While the Member did advocate on behalf of ANM Group in his capacity as an MSP, we agree with the Commissioner that there is no evidence to demonstrate that Peter Chapman - whose shares in ANM Group are of a fixed value – agreed to act on behalf of ANM Group in return for, or in expectation of, receiving a payment or benefit in kind from them.

“In addition, there was no evidence of a connection between the Member’s action and the level of interest due to him in respect of his shareholding.”

Earlier this month, Tory MSP Annie Wells was suspended for a week from Holyrood business after commenting on a private committee report.

Tory MSP Alexander Burnett was also criticised for failing to declare property interests when asking written parliamentary questions.

Mr Chapman said: "I am pleased that the committee has unanimously agreed with the Commissioner that there was no breach of the code of conduct.

“I held my hands up at the time and admitted this was an honest mistake. I also made no secret of my shareholding in ANM, which was fully declared in my register of interests.

“Stepping down from my front bench role was one of the hardest decisions I have ever taken, but I believed it was the right thing to do.

“I did not want the proceedings to impact upon the rural brief at such an important time when unimpeded scrutiny of this SNP government is required.

“I hope a line can now be drawn under this and I can get on with representing the people of the north-east, something I have always been very passionate about.”