NICOLA Sturgeon has not spoken to her former finance secretary Derek Mackay since his resignation, the Scottish Government has said.

Mr Mackay resigned on February 5 following reports he had sent 270 inappropriate messages to a 16-year-old boy.

He quit on the evening the allegations were made public by The Scottish Sun and was suspended from the party pending an investigation the next morning.

Speaking to journalists on Tuesday, a spokeswoman for Ms Sturgeon said there had been no contact between the First Minister and Mr Mackay since he stepped down.

She said: "I believe the First Minister was asked this on camera yesterday and she made clear that no she hasn't."

Mr Mackay was not mentioned in today's meeting of Ms Sturgeon's newly reshuffled Cabinet.

Scottish Tory leader Jackson Carlaw said it was "impossible" for Mr Mackay, who failed to appear at Holyrood today, to continue as an MSP and he should quit.

He accused Ms Sturgeon of being "very slow" to act over the scandal and of hiding behind the "due process" of an SNP investigation into Mr Mackay's admitted conduct. 

He said: "This isn’t due process into something that needs to be examined.

“By his own admission, he behaved inappropriately, in a manner and to an extent that makes his position as an MSP impossible and I believe that he should step down.

“I also think that the First Minister has been very slow to react to all of this. 

“I still don’t think there’s any helpline been set up for people in the SNP who Derek Mackay may have approached when he was party chairman.

“I think if Nicola Sturgeon was taking this seriously she would be doing what the Scottish Parliament, what Westminster did when these issues arose, and that was giving everybody who might have been affected the opportunity to come forward.

“I don’t know what this due process is she says the SNP are going through.

“It seems more to me a process to sweep the whole thing under the carpet. Not good enough.”

Pressure has been mounting from oppositions parties and those within the SNP for Mr Mackay to step down as an MSP, which would spark a by-election just over a year before the 2021 Holyrood elections.

Public finance minister Kate Forbes was called in to present the draft budget in the chamber on February 6, with less than 24 hours' notice - winning her praise from across the chamber and contributing to her eventual promotion to Finance Secretary.

Despite taking on Mr Mackay's role, the new Finance Secretary will not have responsibilities over the economy, which were given to Fiona Hyslop.