A former Tory MSP who was forced to quit after he urged a newspaper editor to call for the resignation of his party leader has joined a right-of-centre think-tank.
Brian Monteith resigned the Conservative whip in November 2005, after his e-mails to Iain Martin, the then editor of Scotland on Sunday, were made public.
He had urged the newspaper to run a leader column calling on David McLetchie to resign as Conservative leader as the row over his taxi receipts intensified.
Mr Monteith spent 18 months representing Mid-Scotland and Fife as an independent MSP before standing down ahead of this month's election.
It emerged yesterday that he has been appointed the research director of the Edinburgh-based Policy Institute.
Mr Monteith will also act as a spokesman for the organisation and advise on strategy and policy research, specialising in public service reform, governance and the economy.
Yesterday, Mr Monteith said: "We're too wedded to government as an answer to our problems the whole time. But the Policy Institute has made a brave start in championing enlightened ideas, and I want to help it as best I can."
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