A top north-east Conservative, at the centre of a race row, has resigned.
Conrad Ritchie, the chairman of the party’s Banff and Buchan Conservative Association, stepped down after being accused of racism and xenophobia.
But he has also faced criticism for an apparent failure to apologise to his alleged victim.
The accusations revolve around posts on social network Twitter in which he told French-born Aberdeen councillor Christian Allard to “go back” to his country of birth.
The SNP councillor, formerly an MSP and MEP, retweeted the remarks, claiming he is regularly told to “go home”.
Mr Ritchie, formerly of global engineering firm Score Group, stepped down as chairman on Tuesday following coverage of the row in this newspaper.
In a statement issued yesterday, he said: “You may be aware of a story printed in The Press And Journal regarding an exchange on social media between myself and Christian Allard.
“The article details comments I made to Mr Allard on Twitter, in which I told him during a political debate that he had the option to return to his country of origin if he was not happy living in the UK.
“Mr Allard, who is originally from France, has branded the comments as racist and xenophobic.
“I absolutely reject any such inference. I am not, and have never been, racist or xenophobic.
“However, as chairman of the branch, I should be more careful with my choice of words,” he added.
“My conduct has brought the post of chairman, and the branch itself, into disrepute.
“I have therefore taken the difficult decision to resign as chairman with immediate effect.”
Last night, Christian Allard said he had not been contacted by Mr Ritchie and said his statement was a “non-apology”.
The Torry/Ferryhill councillor, a resident of Scotland for 35 years, said: “Mr Ritchie was good enough to find me to tell me what he thought before.
“I am fed up hearing second-hand news of resignations. It is maybe time for people to own up.
“I had no idea he was the chairman of the Banff and Buchan Conservatives.
“Someone has to apologise at some point, but no one seems able to do so to the right person.
“I would also accept an apology from Banff And Buchan MP David Duguid or Scottish Tory leader Jackson Carlaw on his behalf.”
A Conservative spokesman said the party would not be commenting on the matter, as it was an issue between the two men involved.
The incident has not been reported to the police.
