Labour MSP Malcolm Chisholm 'changes mind' on party role

LABOUR MSP Malcolm Chisholm has stepped down from the opposition front bench just days after his appointment as education spokesman.

The party said he had "changed his mind" since he was announced in the role on May 20.

Mr Chisholm - the only Labour MSP to win a constituency seat in the Lothians region at the Holyrood election - will be replaced by Ken Macintosh.

Patricia Ferguson will take over from Mr Macintosh in the culture brief.

A Labour spokesman said: "Iain Gray asked Malcolm Chisholm to use his experience and ability in the shadow cabinet and he had agreed to do so. He has since reconsidered and changed his mind."

Mr Chisholm, who won the Edinburgh Northern and Leith seat with a 595 majority, has stepped down from other high-profile positions in the party.

He resigned as former First Minister Jack McConnell's communities minister in the last Labour-Liberal Democrat Scottish Executive after rebelling against the party line on replacing the Trident nuclear missile system.

He was the first minister to resign from Tony Blair's Government, standing down because of cuts to benefits for single parents.

In 2009 Mr Chisholm was the only Labour MSP to vote with the SNP Scottish Government in endorsing the decision to free the Lockerbie bomber on compassionate grounds.

He also broke ranks to back the SNP Government's plans for minimum alcohol pricing last year.

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