Scotland’s Finance Secretary Quits After Sending Inappropriate Texts To Teenage Boy

Scotland’s Finance Secretary Derek Mackay resigned on Thursday after it was revealed that he had sent hundreds of inappropriate texts and messages to a 16-year-old boy over a six-month period.

The allegations, first revealed by the Scottish Sun newspaper, emerged only hours before Mackay, 42, was set to unveil the government's budget in the Scottish Parliament.

The public finance minister Kate Forbes will now speak in his place.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon confirmed she has accepted Mackay's resignation.

Sturgeon said: "Derek has made a significant contribution to government, however he recognizes that his behavior has failed to meet the standards required.”

In a statement Mackay apologized for his behavior.

"I take full responsibility for my actions. I have behaved foolishly and I am truly sorry,” he said. “I apologize unreservedly to the individual involved and his family. I spoke last night with the first minister and tendered my resignation with immediate effect.

Mackay added: "Serving in government has been a huge privilege and I am sorry to have let colleagues and supporters down."

Mackay allegedly sent some 270 texts, including Instagram and Facebook messages, to the boy between August of last year and January 2020.

The Sun reported that, among other things, Mackay invited the boy to dinner and a rugby match, repeatedly called him “cute” and even asked the boy if anyone else saw their messages.

Mackay apparently contacted the boy several times on Christmas Day, and once told him he was "looking good with that new haircut.”

The boy reportedly only responded to a few of Mackay’s texts, reminded him of his youthful age and warned the finance minister "not to try anything.”

The texts also showed that Mackay revealed his sexual orientation to the boy, who knew the older man was a senior politician. Mackay even invited the boy to deliver campaign leaflets for him.

The boy’s mother, 37, only found out about the chats last week and demanded Mackay be fired.

“A man like that is not supposed to say these sorts of things to a boy,” she told the Sun. “I worry about what would have happened if my son had sent him back a message he wanted to hear. You can see [Mackay] tries again and again -- like he is trying to get my son to change his mind about something. He is trying to see how [far] he can push it.”

The outraged mother added: “When I finally read the messages it was terrifying and made my stomach turn. My son’s friends, his girlfriend, can say he is cute -- but not this strange man.”

Scottish Conservative leader Jackson Carlaw had called on Mackay to resign from the Scottish Parliament, noting his behavior could "constitute the grooming of a young individual.”

Carlaw also requested that Sturgeon suspend Mackay from the ruling Scottish National Party, or SNP.

Carlaw told Sky News: "The whole parliament will be in shock. I think we are all bewildered that Derek could have undertaken such a colossal lapse of judgement.”

Scottish Labour leader Richard Leonard said Mackay's actions constituted "an abuse of power" and were "nothing short of predatory.

Police Scotland, the national police force, said it had not received any complaints about Mackay, but was "assessing available information from media reporting and would encourage anyone with information to please come forward"

Mackay, a father of two, came out as gay in 2013 and left his wife.

BBC reported that Mackay was widely regarded as a potential future first minister.

Brian Taylor, political editor for BBC Scotland, called the scandal “a calamity, without caveat, for Derek Mackay, for the SNP, for the first minister and for the collective Scottish government.”

Taylor wrote that Derek Mackay was “a key member of the Scottish cabinet” and his resignation comes at a challenging time for the ruling SNP shortly after Brexit.

“Challenges over public policy, most notably in education and the [National Health Service],” he wrote. “[And] internal disquiet over how to proceed with [a second independence referendum].”