The former SNP finance secretary Derek Mackay has resumed networking with politicians and lobbyists.
The 44-year-old disappeared from Holyrood in February 2020 after it emerged he had been pestering a 16-year-old schoolboy with text messages.
In February, he set up Lochan Associates Ltd, which Companies House says offers “management consultancy activities other than financial management”.
However little else had been heard of Mr Mackay, with his company’s website inactive.
But this week the former Renfrewshire MSP put his profile and CV on the LinkedIn job hunting and networking platform, describing himself as “Director, Lochan Associates Limited, Paisley”.
He has already acquired 60 connections, including Scottish Tory peer Lord Duncan of Springbank, former Labour Glasgow City Council leader Steven Purcell, and former SNP MSP Andrew Wilson, founder partner at the influential lobbying firm Charlotte Street Partners.
Others include former Scottish Tory press boss Andy Maciver, former Scottish Tory MP Peter Duncan, Glasgow SNP councillor Anne McTaggart, and pollster Mark Diffley, a former business partner of SNP Constitution Secretary Angus Robertson.
READ MORE: Disgraced ex-SNP minister Derek Mackay sets up consultancy
Besides his current role, Mr Mackay’s profile also includes his CV, from his entry into politics as a Renfrewshire Councillor in 1999, to his four ministerial roles in the Scottish Government from 2011 to 2020, and his time as an MSP from 2011 to 2021.
Under Activity, his profile it states: “Derek hasn’t posted lately”.
The CV makes no mention of the SNP, which suspended him, but this is not uncommon among politicians.
Mr Mackay’s successor, Kate Forbes, also omits her party ties from her LinkedIn profile.
Mr Mackay is set to return to Holyrood soon as a witness in the inquiry into the botched contract to build two CalMac ferries at Ferguson Marine on the Clyde.
Nicola Sturgeon told MSPs that Mr Mackay, as the minister for transport and islands, signed off the deal despite warnings of financial risk in 2015.
However Mr Mackay’s allies have claimed key decisions were taken by more senior SNP ministers, including deputy FM John Swinney and then Infrastructure Secretary Keith Brown.
The unfinished boats are five years late and will cost £240million, against a £97m budget.
Mr Mackay was approached for comment.
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