A TORY MSP has resigned from Holyrood's standards committee due to not being able to be "unbiased" on Michael Matheson.

Stephen Kerr said that "it would have been wrong [to sit on the committee] having made so many public pronouncements" calling on the former health secretary to resign, according to the BBC. 

Matheson quit his Cabinet role in February following months of pressure over a five-figure data roaming bill racked up on his parliamentary iPad during a family holiday to Morocco.

He had initially gotten the taxpayer to foot the bill, but later said he would pay it himself.

READ MORE: Michael Matheson 'will not resign' as MSP amid £11k iPad bill row

Earlier in March, the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body – the cross-party group of MSPs tasked with the running of Parliament – concluded Matheson had broken the code of conduct for members over his handling of the bill, and referred his case to Holyrood’s Standards, Procedures and Public Appointments Committee to consider sanctions.

On Tuesday, the SNP MSP was questioned by journalists at Holyrood for the first time since the SPCB issued the findings.

Asked if he would resign as an MSP, Matheson said: “No.

“As you know, there is a standards process at the moment and I'm going to respect the confidentiality of that process and I look forward to the process being completed shortly.”

The Tories have urged Humza Yousaf to remove the whip from the Falkirk West MSP, but the First Minister has said the former minister is a “decent person that made a mistake”.

Appearing on the BBC’s Sunday Show earlier this month, Yousaf said: “There are MSPs that have made mistakes and they’ve had to face the consequences of those mistakes.

“I’ve not heard Michael say anything other than he’ll accept what those consequences are, and I’m sure he’ll accept whatever the parliamentary committee decides and deliberates on.”

Yousaf added that he did not sack Matheson from his Cabinet because he “genuinely believes in due process”.