A RISING star of the Scottish Tories is to be banned from Holyrood for a week after breaching the code of conduct.

Glasgow MSP Annie Wells is to be excluded from parliamentary business for five working days after discussing a secret Equalities Committee report.

Ms Wells, 46, who was elected in 2016, commented in advance of the report being published in May.

Her remarks coincided a leak to the Scottish Daily Mail revealing the committee had backed ending the ban on prisoner voting.

The Scottish Tories immediately issued a press release condemning the idea, which included quotes from Ms Wells about the committee's work.

She said: "The Scottish Conservatives do not support these proposals.

“There is absolutely no public support for these proposals, and at no time did the Committee hear directly from victims of crime on this matter. 

"Only the Scottish Conservatives will stand up for victims and their families.”

The report was not made public until three days later. 

The Tories today insisted Ms Wells did not leak the report, but had merely commented on material which was already in the public domain.

Ms Wells, a member of the committee, was reported to Scotland’s Standards Commissioner by fellow SNP member Gail Ross.

The Commissioner concluded Ms Wells, the Scottish Tories' mental health spokeswoman, had breached Holyrood’s confidentiality rules.

At Thursday’s meeting of the Standards Committee, convener Bill Kidd said: “The Committee has considered a complaint from Gail Ross MSP about Annie Wells MSP.

“The complaint is that Annie Wells sought political advantage by making advance public comment on the Equalities and Human Rights Committee’s report on “Prisoner Voting in Scotland”.

“This Committee is unanimous in the decisions reached on the complaint.

“Firstly, it agrees with the findings in fact and conclusion of the Commissioner that Annie Wells breached paragraphs 12, 15 and 16 of Section 7 of the Code of Conduct for MSPs by making public press comment in advance of the publication of the Equalities and Human Rights Committee’s report.

“Secondly, the Committee considers that the breaches justify the imposition of sanctions on Annie Wells.

“I propose that the Committee will recommend in its report that the Parliament excludes Annie Wells MSP from all meetings of the Parliament and all meetings of its Committees for five sitting days.”

The sanction, which must now be ratified by MSPs, does not exclude Ms Wells from the Holyrood campus, but she cannot take part in any debates or committees.

She will not lose any salary while excluded.

A vote of MSPs is expected soon, and the sanction will begin this month.

In previous parliamentary sessions, former Tory MSP Brian Monteith and former LibDem MSP Mike Pringle received similar one week bans for leaking committee reports.

Tory MSP Alexander Burnett recently received a two-week ban on lodging written parliamentary questions after failing to declare a personal financial interest in some of the subject matter. 

Former SNP minister Mark McDonald, who now sits as an Independent MSP, recently finished a month-long ban from Holyrood that included a loss of salary for sexual misconduct. 

Ms Wells said: "Numerous media outlets contacted our office seeking comment on a story on the front page of a national newspaper that morning on prisoner voting.

“So I responded to that, as every MSP would, by issuing a statement to them reiterating my opposition to allowing prisoners voting rights.

“My response did not contain details of the report that weren’t already known, nor was I responsible for the original leak of the document to the paper, and we still don’t know who was.

“Indeed, I did not receive the final report until after it had featured in the national media.

“I will continue to work on behalf of my constituents and I will continue to oppose giving prisoners voting rights.”