Aberdeen Donside MSP Mark McDonald will officially begin his one-month suspension from the Scottish Parliament today.
In June, the former early years minister was given the toughest punishment handed down since devolution after 101 of his colleagues voted to ban him from Holyrood for a month without pay.
Because the vote happened just days before the start of the parliament’s summer recess, it was agreed that the exclusion would apply from today, as MSPs reconvene for the start of the new parliamentary session.
The suspension is due to run until October 2 and Mr McDonald will receive no salary during the period.
Mr McDonald, who was found to have sexually harassed a parliament worker after a probe by the Commissioner for Ethical Standards in Public Life in Scotland, previously said that he accepted the verdict and would use the time to “rebuild and reflect”.
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He had been found to have breached the code of conduct by sending Twitter messages to a woman which created an “intimidating, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment” and “involved sexual harassment”.
However, Mr McDonald was cleared of other allegations, including that he had waited at a parliament exit for the woman and that he had contributed to a medical condition that she had suffered.
