Councillor Richard Laird who has announced his intention to stand down from Highland Council
A Highland councillor has announced he will resign next month, a year after poor health caused him to give up senior positions on the council.
Inverness Central’s Richard Laird will step down on September 5, after seven years with the authority.
The SNP representative said: “Folk will know that my health hasn’t been great these last two years.
“My long-standing, but previously manageable, medical conditions have become a real problem for me during that time and my doctor has now told me that they are unlikely to improve whilst I remain a councillor.
“It isn’t easy to be told that, but I have to take that advice on board, hence this decision.
“The people of Inverness Central deserve a councillor who can fulfil the role properly and I am, unfortunately, no longer that.”
Mr Laird stepped down as deputy leader of the SNP group and chairman of the audit and scrutiny committee last year with the hope that the decreased workload would allow health to improve.
He is now planning to go back to university to study law.
