SCOTLAND’S former finance secretary has resigned from the SNP, having been suspended over messages he sent to a teenage boy.

Derek Mackay resigned from his Cabinet post just hours before he was due to deliver last year’s Scottish Budget, following reports that he had sent hundreds of messages to a 16-year-old boy on social media.

The Renfrewshire South and West MSP was suspended from the SNP pending further investigation but continued to sit as an independent.