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Ruth Davidson’s rural economy spokesman sensationally quit today after the Record discovered he had exploited his position to lobby for a business he has shares in.

Peter Chapman stood down from the Scottish Conservative front bench after we exposed how he urged local councillors to approve a controversial planning application without revealing his vested interest.

The North East Scotland MSP owns a £50,000 shareholding in Aberdeen and Northern Marts (ANM) Group – a major cooperative involved in auctioning of livestock and agricultural machinery.

The group is currently developing a huge expansion of its operations at Thainstone, Inverurie, including a £4 million business park.

A planning proposal for the necessary infrastructure and landscaping was in front of Aberdeenshire Council’s Garioch Area Committee last week.

And the Record can reveal wealthy farmer Chapman attempted to use his position as an MSP to convince members of the committee to approve the proposals.

A damning voicemail left on the phone of an SNP councillor shows Chapman urged them to look at the proposals “in a positive manner”.

He introduced himself as a Tory MSP and rural economy spokesman but failed to mention he had a financial interest in the group behind the proposals.

In the recording - leaked to the Record - Chapman says: “My name’s Peter Chapman MSP, I represent the North East in my shadow position of rural economy, so North East agriculture is very close to my heart and I’m really phoning about the ANM Group planning – the issues that you’re going to be looking at on Tuesday just to tell you how I see it.

“I’m very enthusiastic, I hope that goes ahead in a positive manner. I think it’s very important for the North East, for the Inverurie area, for jobs. I think it’s very important to get the slaughterhouse out of the centre of Inverurie and into a more suitable location.

“I think it’s very important for the ANM Group as a whole which, as you know, is a co-op, owned by its farmer members. This is a very important part of the strategy for the group going forward and I’m just hoping that this application gets looked on in a positive manner.”

Chapman listed the ANM shares in his parliamentary register of interests on April 17 - just three weeks before the planning application was due to be considered.

A decision on the proposal was deferred by the committee.

The Record made the Scottish Conservatives aware of the contents of Chapman’s voicemail around 12pm today after receiving a copy of the recording.

It was confirmed Chapman had resigned shortly after 4pm.

In his resignation letter to Davidson, Chapman admitted he had made calls to several councillors without mentioning his connection to the group.

He stressed he did not stand to gain financially from the planning application and insisted he is convinced it will be beneficial to the area.

However, he added: “In my conversations with the councillors last week, I did not tell them about this interest.

“It was not my intention to hide this: indeed anyone can see the details of my investment on the Scottish Parliament register of interests. I can say hand on heart that my only thought was to support a local business and improve our local economy.

“Nonetheless, it’s quite clear with hindsight that I should have made my financial interest in the phone calls clear and that was a foolish oversight on my behalf not to do so. I failed to maintain the high standards of transparency that is expected of MSPs.

"As a result, I cannot in all conscience continue in post, hence my reason for offering my resignation.”

He added: “I deeply regret this incident and I only hope people will see it for what it is: an honest mistake taken while trying to help my local constituents and the Aberdeenshire economy.”

Davidson responded by saying she accepted the resignation with “regret”.

She added: “I fully accept that you acted in this instance on behalf of your constituents to promote local employmenty - to no financial benefit to yourself - and it is a mark of your intergrity that you choose to step down, rather than allow for any hint of impropriety.”

ANM is not publicly listed and there is no share price, meaning Chapman would not have received a direct financial benefit from the mart expansion outlined in the planning application.

The return on ANM shares detailed on their website is up to 2% above the base rate (0.5%) per annum, so a maximum of 2.5%.

It means Chapman would stand to make a maximum of £1,250 per year on his shareholding.