ON Monday afternoon I learned something of which I had been blissfully unaware: Douglas Ross would be appearing at the Edinburgh Fringe.

I then learned something else which was – to quote four Scottish Tory leadership contenders – equally “disturbing”. Our reporter who was down to attend would not be able to make it, so I would be going in their place.

So, on Tuesday morning I dutifully hopped on a train to Edinburgh that was filled with eager festival-goers. Oh to be one of them.

Forty-five minutes and a short walk from Waverley Station later and I was at the venue. I said I was there to see Douglas Ross. I clarified I was there for work. The girl checking tickets smiled at me sympathetically.

READ MORE: Douglas Ross says he 'had it out' with Scottish Tory MSPs amid party civil war

My first impression on seeing the venue was that I must have been one of the first people to arrive. It was, after all, noticeably empty. Minus journalists, there were some 15 people there, I would guess.

My second thought was that they had a bar in the room – which I supposed would come in handy for people who were going to listen to Ross for an hour without getting paid to do so.

There was no time for a third thought as, without fanfare or introduction, Ross and journalist Graham Spiers were suddenly on stage.

What followed was an hour of surprisingly interesting chat.

Historically with this sort of thing (politicians shoehorning themselves into the Fringe), it might be hard to pick out a headline amid the fawning that goes on. These events are, perhaps expectedly, a far cry from the no-nonsense grilling you might see on a primetime TV slot.

By way of proof, just look at the Press Association headline that came out of a similar (but much better attended) appearance at the Fringe by Anas Sarwar and Matt Forde: “Sarwar reveals son pits Starmer against Trump in wrestling computer game.”

Politically thrilling, I’m sure you’ll agree. Now imagine having to sit through it.

To be fair to Douglas Ross though, he actually did have some things to say. Too many, if anything.

Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar has also appeared at the Edinburgh Fringe

Ross variously revealed that Scottish Labour had tried to get him to lodge a motion of no confidence in the SNP government, and that the UK Government had involved him in conversations about blocking Scottish gender reform.

He hardly pulled punches as he described some of his Scottish Tory MSP colleagues as “calculating bastards” – albeit after a question from Spiers using the term – and said he had “had it out” with leakers within the group.

Ross further told the small crowd that he wouldn’t have run for Westminster if he’d known he was going to lose, that if he’d wanted to oust a Scottish Tory candidate to run in her place he darn well would have, and suggested that he may well do some backbench leaking of his own in future. He quickly clarified that that last one was a joke.

All of those things could have been a headline on a normal day – and that’s before we even get to the discussion about the “Douglas Ross is a c***” banner from the Celtic fans last year.

At one point Ross quipped that he had nearly revealed a secret and given media hacks their “£13’s worth”. No one had the heart to tell him that press tickets had been comped.

But, to be fair to Ross, he did make it worth the time.