DOUGLAS Ross is set to stand in the upcoming General Election in a major U-turn on his previous position.
The Scottish Tory leader had previously said he would not be running so he could instead focus on his role at Holyrood.
However, following the news that David Duguid had been blocked from standing, Ross confirmed he would be running. Here’s all you need to know.
What seat is Douglas Ross standing in?
Ross is to seek the nomination in the Aberdeenshire North and Moray East seat, which was created following a redrawing of the boundaries.
According to political analyst James Kelly, it is “to a large extent a rebranded version of the old Banff and Buchan constituency”.
Duguid had held this seat since 2017, after winning it from the SNP’s Eilidh Whiteford.
Prior to this, it had been held by former SNP and now-Alba leader Alex Salmond from 1987 until 2010.
Ross had represented Moray since 2017, when he defeated SNP incumbent Angus Robertson.
Who else is standing in the seat?
A number of other candidates have already been announced for the seat, including Ian Bailey for the Liberal Democrats and Andrew Brown for Labour.
For the SNP, Aberdeenshire councillor Seamus Logan will contest the seat. He spent most of his life in the NHS and has over 30 years’ experience as a public servant, the majority of this at a senior level in planning and commissioning all health and social services for large populations.
He serves as a local councillor for the Fraserburgh and District ward on Aberdeenshire council.
Who will win the seat?
In his constituency profile for The National, Kelly pointed out that people will “perhaps be more motivated by their feelings towards the Tory government in Westminster, just as they were all those years ago in 1987 when they first elected Alex Salmond”.
He had pointed out that Banff and Buchan is believed to be the only constituency in Scotland to have voted for Brexit, a key factor in why it remained with the Tories in 2019.
He also added that the SNP have treated voters with “respect by selecting a serious candidate in Seamus Logan, who is not a career politician and has spent decades working in the NHS”.
Ross has a public profile which Logan does not however, and a recent Survation MRP poll gave the Tories a two-thirds chance to win the seat against the SNP's one-third.
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