Nicola Sturgeon urged to reveal how much she knew about Derek Mackay’s behaviour The Scottish Conservatives said the mounting claims suggested there was ‘knowledge of potentially inappropriate behaviour’

Nicola Sturgeon is under growing pressure to explain exactly how much she knew about Derek Mackay‘s wayward behaviour, after it was reported that she banned him from drinking at SNP conferences.

A former senior SNP staff member told the Herald newspaper it was “common knowledge” that the former Finance Secretary was openly flirtatious with younger male members.

They claimed that after Mr Mackay’s behaviour was raised at meetings of senior staff, Ms Sturgeon personally advised him to refrain from drinking and going out during conference season.

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At the 2017 SNP conference, the former Cabinet secretary even openly joked that delegates would not be seeing him at the pub after the event as “Nicola won’t let me”.

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The claims were published as a married SNP activist also alleged that Mr Mackay had sent him dozens of unwanted messages over a period of four years.

The Scottish Conservatives said the mounting claims suggested there was “knowledge of potentially inappropriate behaviour” by Mr Mackay at the highest levels of the SNP.

The 42-year-old resigned on Thursday following the publication of 270 messages he sent to a 16-year-old boy on social media over the space of six months.

In one message, he asked the teenager: “And our chats are between us?” When the boy agreed, Mr Mackay replied: “Cool, then to be honest I think you are really cute.”

The former Finance Secretary has also been suspended by the SNP while an internal investigation is carried out, but he remains as the MSP for Renfrewshire North and West.

Police Scotland said it had not received any complaint of criminality but was “assessing” the content of the messages and asked anyone with further information to come forward.

‘Unacceptable’

Nicola Sturgeon described Mr Mackay’s behaviour as “unacceptable” and insisted she was “not aware of any further allegations or any conduct of a similar nature”.

Her deputy, John Swinney, said on Friday he had been “utterly stunned” by the revelations, saying it was “the first time that I had heard any revelations of this type”.

But Tory interim leader Jackson Carlaw said the new allegations pointed to a “pattern of behaviour” and accused the SNP of trying to protect its reputation instead of dealing with the matter.

“The Scottish Government and the SNP should have already established a confidential hotline for potential victims to contact to report concerns and to receive appropriate support,” he added.

Mr Mackay said he took “full responsibility” for his actions, adding: “I have behaved foolishly and I am truly sorry. I apologise unreservedly to the individual involved and his family.”

He has not been seen in Holyrood or in public since the scandal broke, and on Friday deleted his social media profiles.

An SNP spokesman said: “Once the First Minister became aware of the allegations on Wednesday evening, decisive action was taken and Derek Mackay resigned.

“He was suspended from the SNP as soon as the full details, which we had asked for the previous evening, were published by the Sun on Thursday morning.

“The SNP has established procedures for individuals to raise concerns about members, including the option of doing that independently and anonymously if they wish.”