SNP MSP Graeme Dey resigns as transport minister

Mr Dey, who served as Minister for Parliamentary Business and Veterans from 2018, was appointed Transport Minister in May 2021 after the Holyrood elections.

The announcement comes just two months before the Abellio Scotrail franchise ends and a new Scottish Government-controlled public sector body will begin running Scotland's railways operation.

He presided over a summer of disruption with Scotland's lifeline ferry services and has been at the centre of ongoing discussions over how to fix the issues.

Accepting his resignation, the First Minister said he had been a formidable minister, and would be welcome to return in future should circumstances allow.

Mr Dey’s resignation is not expected to trigger a reshuffle.

An existing SNP minister is likely to be moved sideways into the transport brief, with a backbench MSP promoted to fill the resulting vacancy. 

An announcement is expected today or tomorrow.

The newly created minister will have to be confirmed by the Scottish Parliament.

Writing to the First Minister, Mr Dey said: “It has been an absolute privilege to serve as a Minister in the Scottish Government, firstly as Minister for Parliamentary Business and Veterans and latterly, as Minister for Transport.

“I have always prided myself on being able to give 100% to any task I am charged with.

“Regrettably, despite my continuing passion, I find myself unable now to give this hugely important ministerial role everything it rightly requires and deserves.

“It is therefore with regret that I am writing to resign from office as Minister for Transport in the Scottish Government.

"This is entirely for personal reasons relating to my health and wellbeing.

"I regret the inconvenience this will cause you and my colleagues in the government, while we seek to recover from the pandemic."

Soon after taking on the transport brief on May 20 he announced that the Scottish government was “actively exploring” chartering ferries in a bid to minimise “intolerable” disruption to sailings to the islands.

Graeme Dey told MSPs the move was being considered after CalMac services were affected when its largest and newest vessel, the MV Loch Seaforth, needed repairs.

At the time state-owned ferry operator CalMac confirmed engineers were working on the vessel’s engines, saying it would be “back in service as soon as possible”. In the ferry’s absence other services on the CalMac timetable had been affected.

He said at the time: “I entirely recognise the intolerable nature of the situation for islanders. I also realise what they want is action rather than warm words."

He was at the centre of a row over a planned ScotRail rail strike which threatened to hit the COP26 Climate Change Conference in Glasgow. 

And there was concern over ScotRail plans to cut services in a new timetable after the services move to state ownership.

More recently he has come under fire over plans for ScotRail, which is to become nationalised in March, for forthcoming ticket office closures and reduced opening hours in stations across the country.

In a stinging letter the Aslef union urged Mr Dey to "stop being an armchair transport secretary" and intervene to protect the new publicly-owned ScotRail by rejecting the current cuts agenda.

In his resignation letter, Mr Dey said he intended to focus on "improving my health and wellbeing and on giving more attention to my family, while also continuing as MSP for Angus South to serve the needs and interests of the people of the constituency".

He told the First Minister: "Please also be assured of my commitment to support the government's work and priorities as a member of the SNP parliamentary group."

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said: “This is the right decision for Graeme to reach at this time, and he leaves government with my very best wishes.

“He has been a highly effective minister and steps down with many achievements to his name. As Minister for Parliamentary Business, he built trust and confidence across the political spectrum to navigate a period of minority government, and ensure that government remained accountable to Parliament throughout the period of lockdown earlier in the pandemic.

“As Transport Minister, Graeme played a huge part in ensuring the success of COP26. He has also delivered concessionary bus travel for under-22s, set out plans to reduce car travel to meet climate targets, and prepared the ground for the return of Scotland’s railway to public ownership.

“Amongst his many responsibilities, I know that Graeme particularly valued his time as Minister for Veterans. In that role, he secured additional funding for veteran services and I have no doubt that the veteran community will continue to benefit from his support as a backbench MSP.

“Circumstances permitting, the door will always be open should Graeme wish a return to government in future. In the meantime, I wish him well and know that he will continue to serve his Angus constituents with drive and commitment.”

His resignation come as  ScotRail was to transition at the end of March into  "operator of last resort arrangements" after ministers decide it was not the right time to seek a franchise procurement competition to run Scotland's railways after Dutch state-owned transport firm Abellio ended its control.

At the end of 2019, ministers announced it had stripped Abellio of the franchise three years early in the wake of continuing outcry over service failings and rising costs to the taxpayer.

Abellio's franchise loss came after ScotRail was forced to submit a plan by February, 2019, to address falling performance levels which, if unsuccessful, would have resulted in a breach of contract and led to the Dutch transport firm losing the franchise early.

That came after a 2018 winter timetable with the introduction of high-speed trains and new class 385 electric trains ushered in months of cancellations and disruption to services with much of it put down to staff shortages partly due to training to deal with the new trains and timetable.