DEREK Mackay has been urged to come out of hiding and quit as an MSP after earning almost £5,000 in salary for doing nothing.
The disgraced former finance secretary has not been seen in public since it emerged he had bombarded a 16-year-old boy with texts, including one calling him "cute".
He resigned as a minister on February 5 after the messages were obtained by the Scottish Sun, but has yet to step down as an MSP.
READ MORE: New humiliation for Derek Mackay as his political home demands he quits Holyrood
Mr Mackay remains entitled to his £63,579 salary because there is no mechanism to remove him from Holyrood.
He also automatically qualifies for a £12,000 severance payment for no longer being a minister.
The Scottish Conservatives said he must quit now.
The party’s chairwoman Rachael Hamilton said: “It’s now almost a month since these shocking revelations came to light.
“That’s a long time for an elected MSP to be in hiding, and a decision has to be made.
“He cannot go on conning his constituents and shunning their needs – he has to quit now.
“We also need to know from the Scottish Government and the SNP if they have been in touch with Mr Mackay, and if he has indicated to them whether or not he intends to take his sizeable ministerial pay-off.
“Both Derek Mackay and the SNP clearly hope this matter will simply be forgotten about if they ignore it for long enough.
“But that won’t wash with the Scottish people.”
Mr Mackay, 42, contacted a schoolboy out of the blue via social media last August without knowing his age, then sent him hundreds of messages over six months.
He called him “cute”, asked him to dinner and asked that their conversations be kept secret.
READ MORE: Derek Mackay stripped of honorary Boys’ Brigade position
His behaviour came to light after the boy’s mother contacted the Scottish Sun.
Opposition parties called his conduct “predatory” and a textbook example of “grooming”.
The SNP, which has suspended him from the party and removed the party whip at Holyrood, is currently holding its own internal inquiry into his conduct.
A party spokesman said: “#BeKind is trending for a reason. The Tories playing fast and loose with someone’s mental health status in a desperate bid to try and score cheap political points is really low.”
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