Moray’s Douglas Ross to stand down as Scottish Conservatives leader
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MORAY politician Douglas Ross will stand down as leader of the Scottish Conservatives after the General Election.
Mr Ross - who has led the party in Scotland for more than three years - confirmed in a statement this morning that he will stand down after July 4, irrespective of the election result.
He has he concluded it would not be “feasible” to continue in his role and would rather focus on serving his constituents.
It was recently confirmed that Mr Ross - who has been Moray’s MP since 2017 - would be standing in the newly-formed Aberdeenshire North and Moray East in place of David Duguid.
He described this decision as “leading from the front”, but Mr Duguid, who is unwell in hospital, indicated that he had still hoped to campaign and stand in the seat.
If elected, Mr Ross would have been party leader, MP for Aberdeenshire North and MSP for the Highlands and Islands. He would have been covering a patch more than half the size of Scotland - 51 per cent of its landmass, to be exact.
He has now come to the conclusion that this would not be possible - indicating that he will stand down as leader after the election, and will stand down as an MSP if elected as an MP.
“I have served as MP, MSP and leader for over three years now and believed I could continue to do so if re-elected to Westminster,” his statement reads.
“On reflection, that is not feasible. I am committed to fighting and winning the Aberdeenshire North and Moray East constituency.
“Should I be given the honour to represent the people and communities of this new seat, they should know being their MP would receive my complete focus and attention.
“I will therefore stand down as leader following the election on July 4, once a successor is elected.
“Should I win the seat, I will also stand down as an MSP to make way for another Scottish Conservative representative in Holyrood.”
Mr Ross said the focus must now be on defeating the SNP across Scotland.
He added: “My party has a chance to beat the SNP in key seats up and down Scotland, including in Aberdeenshire North and Moray East.
“We must now come together and fully focus on doing exactly that.”
