Ashamed ex-politician Derek McKay is promoting his new business through LinkedIn after being contacted by several powerful Scots.
McKay, 44, disappeared from Holyrood in February 2020 after The Scottish Sun reported that he had molested the 16-year-old with creepy text messages.
In February, he founded Lochan Associates Ltd, which according to Companies House offers “management consultancy other than financial management” although the website is inactive.
This week, a former MSP from Renfrewshire posted his profile and resume on job search and networking platform LinkedIn, identifying himself as “Director of Lochan Associates Limited, Paisley.”
He has already made 60 connections, including Scottish Tory peer Lord Duncan of Springbank, former Glasgow City Council Leader Stephen Purcell and former SNP member Andrew Wilson, founding partner of the powerful lobbying firm Charlotte Street Partners.
Others include former Scottish Conservative press chief Andy MacIver, former Scottish Conservative MP Peter Duncan, Glasgow SNP councilor Anne McTaggart, and sociologist Mark Diffley, former business partner of SNP constitutional secretary Angus Robertson.
In addition to his current role, McKay’s profile also includes his biography, from his entry into politics as a Renfrewshire Councilor in 1999 to his four ministerial positions in the Scottish Government from 2011 to 2020 and his tenure as an MP from 2011 to 2021 year.
McKay left the SNP in March 2021 after The Scottish Sun reported that he bombarded a schoolboy with 270 online messages.
In dirty messages, Mr. McKay called the guy “cute” and invited him to dinner, six months after he contacted him out of the blue.
McKay is set to return to Holyrood shortly as a witness in an investigation into the failed contract to build two CalMac ferries at Ferguson Marine on the River Clyde.
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Nicola Sturgeon told MSP that McKay, as Secretary of State for Transport and Islands, signed the deal despite financial risk warnings in 2015.
However, McKay’s allies argue that key decisions were made by more senior SNP ministers, including Deputy Foreign Secretary John Swinney and later Infrastructure Minister Keith Brown.
The unfinished boats were five years late and would cost £240m on a budget of £97m.
Scottish Shadow Public Safety Minister Russell Findlay said: “Derek McKay’s behavior towards the teenager was predatory and shameful.
“After being forced out of the SNP government, he disappeared from Holyrood but shamelessly continued embezzling large sums of taxpayer money for 15 months.
“Begs the question: who would have thought that he is the right person to turn to for political advice? It also raises concerns about whether he will manipulate his SNP connections on behalf of those who want to influence his former cabinet colleagues.”
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