Children’s Minister Mark McDonald quit the Scottish Government after a woman accused him of sending “inappropriate” messages, it is understood.
The SNP MSP for Aberdeen Donside became the highest profile political casualty of the escalating harassment scandal north of the border when he resigned from the government at the weekend.
The former city councillor said on Saturday that it had been brought to his attention that his “previous actions have been considered to be inappropriate”, and where he believed himself to have been “merely humorous or attempting to be friendly, my behaviour might have made others uncomfortable or led them to question my intentions”.
He apologised “unreservedly” and said he believed it would not be “appropriate” for him to continue as a minister.
The SNP and the Scottish Government remained tight-lipped about the nature of the allegations yesterday, but the Press and Journal understands they relate to messages which he sent to a woman who later complained.
The police have not been contacted in relation to the messages.
Amid a row over the government’s failure to explain the reasons behind Mr McDonald’s departure, the married father-of-two pulled out of a talk he was due to deliver at the Robert Gordon University (RGU) in Aberdeen yesterday morning.
He was replaced at the event by local SNP councillor Stephen Flynn, who said: “As a party we thought it was vitally important that we were represented and I was asked to stand in.”
Mr McDonald’s constituency office was also closed during the day and his Facebook account appeared to have been deactivated.
Further details of the complaint emerged as a confidential phone line for victims of sexual harassment went live at the Scottish Parliament as both Holyrood and Westminster continued to be rocked by allegations.
Mr McDonald shot to prominence in 2007 as the eldest of a group of four young SNP councillors to be elected in Aberdeen, before becoming a north-east list MSP in 2011 and then succeeding Brian Adam in the Donside seat in 2013.
Last year, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon appointed him to serve as minister for childcare and early years.
The Scottish Government was criticised yesterday for failing to reveal the reason behind Mr McDonald’s departure, with Conservative councillor Todd Ferguson claiming on social media that “by keeping quiet about this – you become complicit”.
And a Labour source said: “Mark McDonald’s apology went down like a lead balloon. His resignation created more questions than answers – namely what conduct he believes is unacceptable for a junior minister but not for an MSP.”
However, north-east Conservative MSP Peter Chapman said: “There is something of a witch-hunt going on right now. It could be something fairly minor to something far more serious. Our system is based upon being innocent until proven guilty.”