Former MSPs: Where are they now?

SOME former MSPs are on the verge of finding work in the voluntary and charitable sector like ex-minister Andy Kerr, while others have yet to find a new role for themselves two months after they were turfed out as politicians.

But former Labour minister for finance and public service reform Tom McCabe, above, has carved himself out a role as a consultant to a training company, alongside a directorship of an investment fund.

The former Hamilton South MSP is one of a number of ex-politicians defeated on 5 May to rule out a return to the Scottish Parliament.

Mr McCabe said: "I'm looking to go in a different direction."

Lib Dem Robert Brown, who lost his Glasgow seat, said he was still "looking around for opportunities", but had "nothing fixed up".

The Lib Dem's former justice spokesman, said he would "never say never" about attempting to return to Holyrood, but suggested that the five-year wait until the next election would be too long for him.

The former Glasgow Anniesland MSP Labour's Bill Butler said he was "pursuing" a voluntary sector role, but would not say what the job was.

Former rural affairs Lib Dem minister Ross Finnie is looking for a job in the public sector, but said that the prospect of a return to Holyrood for him was now a "forlorn hope".