The Moray MP and part-time assistant referee had emerged as the clear frontrunner to replace Jackson Carlaw after his surprise departure – and quickly became the only runner in the race.

His leadership became official days later and, celebrating his success, Ross called the appointment the “honour and privilege of a lifetime” and pledged a focus on “earning the trust of people looking for a positive and credible alternative for Scotland”.

“In taking on this job today, I am applying for another,” he said, “To champion a post-referendum Scotland where we focus not on the divisions of the past but on rebuilding our country from the brink, restoring our reputation for educational excellence, empowering our regions and remote communities, and providing the decent jobs that everyone can aspire to. I am applying to work for anyone and everyone in Scotland who wants that to be the focus of our national debate, who wants to move the country forward, and wants that work to start now.”

One year and one Holyrood election on, what mark has Ross made on the party and on Scottish politics?

ATTENDANCE

ROSS was extremely punctual at the outset of the snap leadership contest. So punctual that there were questions about whether or not he’d known it was coming.

Coming just six months into his tenure, Carlaw’s resignation had been something of a shock, but reports soon emerged that his exit was engineered at Westminster. Several polls had put the SNP on track for a majority in the 2021 Scottish Parliament election – something that, in the end, they narrowly failed to achieve – and independence support was at around 54%. At the same time, less-than-positive internal polling reportedly helped make Carlaw yesterday’s man, accused of failing to stand up to Nicola Sturgeon and criticised by colleagues.

READ MORE: Nicola Sturgeon slaps down Douglas Ross over claim she's 'elitist and patronising'

“In the last few weeks, I have reached a simple if painful conclusion – that I am not, in the present circumstances, the person best placed to lead that case over these next vital months in Scottish politics prior to the Holyrood elections,” the East Renfrewshire MSP said.

Ross was almost immediately tipped as his successor, and no-one emerged to mount a challenge. At the time of his appointment, he’d been out of Holyrood since winning his Westminster seat in 2017. Calls to quit the UK Parliament followed but, after winning re-entry to Holyrood in May, he now double-jobs.

According to thepublicwhip.com, he has a voting attendance record of 80.5% in the Commons since re-election in 2019 – which is worse than the 91.6% chalked-up during his first session from 2016-17. And according to the Scottish Parliament website, he’s taken part in only 23 of the 48 votes to be held since it reconvened in May.

GRADE: Must try harder

ASSESSMENT

THOSE polls showed Ross was never likely to become First Minister at the latest contest.

The election was always going to be difficult for the Scottish Conservatives following the internal shifts that have now taken one-time golden girl Ruth Davidson to the House of Lords.

Under her leadership, the party rose to its best electoral performance since 1992, putting on 16 Holyrood seats in 2016 and pushing Labour into third place.

In May, they equalled their 2016 seat count of 31, losing two constituencies but picking up two places on the list. It’s on the list that Ross got back in.

If the measure of success here was preventing an outright SNP majority, Ross can probably claim that, but with tactical voting at play here (advocated by groups in both Yes and No camps) it’s unclear exactly how much the Tory campaign swung anything.

At more than 63%, turnout was the highest ever recorded for a Scottish parliamentary election.

READ MORE: 'Comedy gold' as Liz Truss says Douglas Ross will be the next first minister

But how is he performing away from the ballot box? According to a poll carried out in April, 65% of voters agree he is not “an appropriate” person to be the leader of a major political party, or a candidate for First Minister, because of comments he made about Gypsies/Travellers,

including a 2017 interview in which he said “tougher enforcement” against the communities would be a priority if he was PM for a day.

He later apologised for those remarks.

The same survey, carried out by Panelbase for Scot Goes Pop, also found that 67% of Scots thought the MP should give up at least one or more of his second jobs if he became an MP again. That was after he was forced into a public apology amid outcry over his decision to officiate a Scottish Premiership game instead of attending a VJ Day event in his constituency. The fee for that match was to be donated to Help For Heroes as a result.

GRADE: Lacks focus

BEHAVIOUR

IF Ross was seeking to become class clown, he’s gone the right way about it by holding Facebook Live events hijacked by questions about whether he was “on magic mushrooms” or would kiss Ruth Davidson and by questions from wags using names including “Mike Oxmells”.

Ross also showcased his dramatic skills during a pre-election broadcast with STV, during which he recited the chorus from what he said was his favourite song, Whole Again by Atomic Kitten, while performing actions he’d made up. It’s not the kind of conduct that’s going to impress the headteacher – maybe that’s why Boris Johnson appeared to forget the MP’s name at Prime Minister’s Questions earlier this year, seeming to call him “Murray Ross”.

He was also the subject of a complaint to Fifa by a member of the Scottish Football Supporters Association who claimed that a Tory party leaflet had included Ross in his match official gear.

GRADE: Needs to apply himself if he wants to get better results

HOMEWORK

“CHANGED times bring with them uncertainty and fear, but also opportunity,” Ross said on becoming Scottish Conservative leader. He wasn’t talking about himself then, but about the pandemic, and he said he had “a feeling of huge excitement at the potential Scotland has to emerge stronger and more united from this crisis”.

One year on, many Scots remain in a position of uncertainty and fear as a result of lost work and lower incomes. And it’s not at all clear that Ross has the answers to the big questions.

In a pre-Holyrood election interview with Channel 4 News, he was asked six times to sketch out a legitimate route to indyref2 but failed to do so.

WATCH: Douglas Ross 'tries to undermine' Nicola Sturgeon's Covid briefing

In January, his Scottish Conservative MPs abstained on a vote to extend the £20 Universal Credit uplift – despite saying they were in favour of it. That extension comes to an end next month in a move roundly criticised by charities like the Child Poverty Action Group.

It’s a measure that has meant a lot to struggling families, but Ross and his Scottish Tory MPs have repeatedly come under criticism for not staging a challenge to unpopular policy changes like it, from cuts to the international aid budget – that experts say will cost lives and harm security – to extending free school meals for hungry children, and the controversial Australia trade deal that NFU (National Farmers Union) Scotland president Martin Kennedy says has left Scots farmers feeling “total betrayal” over the favourable terms for Aussie imports.

Despite the above, Ross recently tried to position himself as a champion of “normal working people across Scotland” when he accused Nicola Sturgeon of betraying them. He claimed she “is not a First Minister who represents working class Scotland anymore” in a bizarre row over the Covid jag roll-out.

The Moray man said she was “arrogant, elitist [and] patronising” after she said “I assume a certain level of intelligence on the part of people listening to me”.

Responding to that gibe, the First Minister said: “Working class Scotland understands perfectly. It’s opportunistic politicians who choose not to understand.”

GRADE: Must do more than the minimum