Former minister Mark McDonald to 'change behaviour'

Mark McDonald said he would accept an offer of support to understand his behaviour.

A former Scottish government minister who quit his post after admitting "inappropriate" actions has said he is committed to changing his behaviour.

Writing for The Press and Journal, Mark McDonald said he had agreed to seek professional "support".

The SNP MSP for Aberdeen Donside said his actions had caused "considerable distress and upset" and he apologised.

Mr McDonald resigned as childcare minister earlier this month but he said he would remain at Holyrood.

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In the statement announcing his resignation, he said his attempts to be "humorous" or "friendly" may have left others feeling uncomfortable.

He told The Press and Journal that he would not go into detail about the allegations for the sake of the woman involved.

The MSP went on: "Last weekend, it was brought to my attention that actions of mine had caused considerable distress and upset.

"Regardless of context or intent, I accept full responsibility for my actions, and any consequences of them. There is no excuse and never should there be.

"I have apologised unreservedly and I do so again. I am sorry."

High standards

He said he was right to resign as a government minister but he needed to go further.

"For my apology to mean anything I must also commit to changing my behaviour and to taking more care in my actions and my language," he said.

"I am determined to do that.

"I have been offered support through the SNP to help me understand more about the way I behaved, the impact it had upon others and how I can work to ensure my behaviour does change. I have accepted that offer of support."

Mr McDonald is one of two SNP members being investigated by the party over possible misconduct.

It is understood the allegations against him are not criminal in nature. The other complaint being investigated by the SNP does not relate to a parliamentarian.

He told the paper that he would spend some time "supporting my family and serving my constituents" before returning to Holyrood.

He said: "I will continue to serve the people of Aberdeen Donside as their constituency MSP. It will be for my constituents to decide at the next election whether or not they wish for me to continue in that role."

And he added: "Ultimately I will be judged by others on whether I can change my behaviour to meet the very high standards that people rightly demand of their politicians. I can only ask that I be given that chance."

Change behaviour

His resignation came after Nicola Sturgeon and her deputy, John Swinney, warned men on their behaviour as allegations of sexual harassment reached Holyrood.

A confidential phone line was launched and an anonymised survey is to be carried out to determine the extent of the issue at the Scottish Parliament.

Ms Sturgeon told BBC Scotland that it was important that the MSP had agreed to address and change aspects of his behaviour.

She said that she hoped the wider sexual harassment scandal would lead to longer-term cultural change.

"If a few weeks, a few months or a year from now, all of this has just been forgotten as a media furore, then we will have lost the opportunity to deliver that long-term cultural change that many of us... have been talking about," she said.

"Let's encourage men to address where their behaviour has been inappropriate, apologise where that is necessary, take whatever action is necessary, but fundamentally to address and change that behaviour in the future."