A political commentator who is quitting journalism for a new job in Parliament has hit out at “online bile” and “puerile” discourse in a farewell column.

As reported on HTFP yesterday, Herald columnist David Torrance is taking up a new position in the House of Commons Library after 18 years in the trade.

David has now elaborated on some of the reasons behind his move in a column for an online Scottish affairs magazine, Scottish Review, headlined ‘Why I’m quitting.’

He wrote that political discourse north of the border has “narrowed” since the 2011 Holyrood election which saw the SNP come to power, making him feel at times like he was “back in the playground.”

Said David: “On Monday, the Herald published my final column for that newspaper, the 221st I’ve written since joining its opinion pages in late 2013.

“This notebook will also be my last for SR after a much shorter run, for next week I’m joining the excellent research team at the House of Commons Library. Naturally, this is incompatible with punditry, so I’m bowing out of journalism after almost 18 years.

“Obviously, I do so with mixed feelings, although taking a break from the hothouse that is Scottish politics has obvious attractions (as does the job itself).

“When I started out as a journalist in 2000, always with the intention of writing about politics, I certainly didn’t intend to become a hate figure, let alone a figure of fun; all I wanted to do was chart Scotland’s politics (and political history) as thoroughly and honestly as possible.

“Initially, it was possible to do this free of online bile, for there still existed a common deliberative space in which those on the left and right, either nationalist or unionist, could discuss history, policy and economics relatively openly.

“At some point after the 2011 Holyrood election, however, that space narrowed considerably. At times, I’ve felt like I was back in the playground, so puerile has been some of what now passes for political discourse, constantly under assault for expressing what would – in any other political context – have been uncontroversial analysis.

“That said, there’s much about journalism and commentary I’ll miss: the conviviality of committed, fair-minded and professional colleagues; what the former newspaper editor Max Hastings once called the ‘intoxication of access,’ and the sheer exhilaration of covering a by-election or historic referendum.

“Even after 18 years, I never lost the thrill of seeing my by-line in a newspaper I’d read as a teenager. It’s been fun, but change is good, and it’s time for something different.”

David began his career at the Edinburgh Evening News before moving into broadcasting.

He will now be working in a politically neutral research role as a Senior Library Clerk, dealing with inquiries from MPs and helping to produce research papers.