MSPs have agreed to hand Michael Matheson a record ban from parliament for breaching Holyrood’s expenses policy.
The former Scottish health secretary – sanctioned over an £11,000 data bill charged to his parliamentary iPad – is to be banned from Holyrood for 27 sitting days and will have his salary withdrawn for 54 days.
The SNP did not vote for the sanction and called for a review of the complaints process, arguing it was open to bias and prejudice.
The punishment, recommended by the standards committee, was passed in the chamber by 64 votes in favour, with no votes against.
The SNP successfully amended the motion to include complaints about the process, but abstained from voting on the final amended version.
Mr Matheson, who quit the cabinet in February, is the subject of a separate Scottish Conservative motion calling on him to resign from Holyrood.
The Falkirk West representative will be suspended for more than five weeks – exceeding previous record bans of one month.
His salary penalty will be roughly equivalent to the £10,941.74 bill charged to his parliamentary device during a family holiday to Morocco between December 2022 and January 2023.
The sanctions will come into force from Thursday.
Mr Matheson is to be barred from all proceedings in the chamber and committees, but not from the parliamentary estate.
He will not be able to return to action in the parliament until early September after MSPs return from summer recess.