A Highland MSP has opened up about his problem drinking following the death of former Liberal Democrat leader Charles Kennedy.
Dave Thompson admitted he had suffered from an “unhealthy” relationship with alcohol and was a “habitual heavy drinker”.
The Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch SNP MSP has now been teetotal for 15 years.
He said his life had turned around since he embraced Christianity and blamed the heavy drinking culture of the north and north-east of Scotland for his own issues.
Mr Thompson, who lives in Inverness and spent his early years in Moray, said he had decided to raise his experiences after Mr Kennedy was found dead at his home at Caol, Fort William, last Monday.
The former Ross, Skye and Lochaber MP’s family later revealed the cause of his death was a haemorrhage linked to his alcoholism.
Mr Thompson, 65, said: “I was born and brought up in Lossiemouth, which is a fishing town.
“There were many fishermen in that town who drank heavily and many religious fishermen who did not drink at all.
“In my early 20s, I moved to Stornoway and members will all have heard about the Gaelic Mod, which is also known as the whisky Olympics.
“I started drinking at a young age and, over many years, I progressed from pints of beer to whisky and so on.”
Mr Thompson, a former director of service at Highland Council, said he habitually drank on Friday and Saturday nights and would be hungover by Monday.
“I had a successful career and was doing everything well but, at the weekends, I was drinking more than was good for me or for the people round about me,” he said.
“Drink creeps up on people, it is an illness and very gradually takes hold of you.
“I took the decision to stop drinking after I became a Christian.
“I was helped greatly and would say without hesitation that, if it was not for God, I would probably still be drinking – it was the best thing that I have ever done and it has changed my life.”
Mr Thompson said he had stopped drinking by the time he was first elected in 2007, initially as a list MSP, bbefore taking on the Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch constituency.
Now a member of Kinmylies Church of Scotland in the Highland capital, he recently announced his intention to stand down at next year’s Scottish elections.
Speaking last night Mr Thompson said he would not have described himself as an alcoholic, but admitted his drinking was “steady, heavy and habitual”.
He added: “I hadn’t intended to speak at all but I felt it was the right thing to do and it’s important to acknowledge it’s a real problem.
“It’s sad but I suppose in a lot of ways I was pretty typical of a lot of people in Scotland and that needs to change somehow.”
Highland councillor Jamie Stone, a friend of Mr Kennedy for many years, said it was crucial for concerns about alcohol to be addressed out in the open.
He said: “I think it’s important for people in public life and indeed all of us to speak about experiences and to tell people about it so they can be learned from.
“If somebody has a problem then it’s important not to push them away but to put an arm round them and stand by them.”
The Scottish Government says alcohol misuse costs the country £3.6billion a year – the equivalent of £900 for every adult.
Official figures show alcohol-related deaths have fallen by 35% since 2003 but the number remains 1.4 times higher than in 1981.
Scottish Government plans to introduce minimum pricing for alcohol, which would increase the cost of cheap beer, cider and spirits, are currently the centre of a legal wrangle amid claims by the Scotch Whisky Association that they breach European law.
Health Secretary Shona Robison said a ruling on the policy, which will be set at 50p per unit, was due in September.