He also finished second in Angus North and Mearns at the 2011 Scottish Parliament election, but was re-elected as an additional member on the party list.

In Holyrood he had served as Chief Whip and rural affairs spokesman for the Scottish Conservative Party and Shadow Minister for Transport, Infrastructure and Climate Change.

[2] In 2014, Johnstone and his colleague Nanette Milne re-paid more than £12,000 to the Scottish Parliament after breaching office expenses rules.

He told the Press and Journal newspaper that a move to allow gay clergy would "ultimately weaken" the church.

Johnstone was educated at Mackie Academy in Stonehaven before working as a dairy and arable farmer.