Douglas Ross suffers stinging election defeat to SNP in controversial pursuit of Aberdeenshire North and Moray East seat
DOUGLAS Ross has lost out to the SNP in his divisive pursuit of the Aberdeenshire North and Moray East seat.
The outgoing Scottish Tory leader went into the General Election with a seat in both parliaments.
But after a surprise SNP gain in the northeast constituency, Mr Ross will be a backbench MSP in Holyrood going forward.
The seat swung to the Nats as Seamus Logan won by a margin of 942 after scooping 13,455 votes.
Reform UK's Jo Hart came third with 5,562 votes, more than Labour and the Lib Dems.
Mr Ross elbowed sitting MP David Duguid, who was barred from standing by party chiefs.
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The 53-year-old had spent time in hospital due to ill health.
The Tory boss, who also works as a Highlands and Islands MSP and a professional football linesman, came under fire over the unpopular decision.
Opposition politicians ridiculed Mr Ross by calling him "three jobs".
He later announced that he would step down as party leader following the election.
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In 2021, Mr Ross said that he would step down as an MP at this general election.
His former Moray constituency has been broken up due to boundary changes.
But his U-turn provoked anger from some within the Scottish Conservatives.
Earlier in the night, Mr Ross told BBC Scotland that it would be a "historically bad night" for his party.
He said: "There will be a huge amount of reflection on the campaign and also clearly the last few years. It has been particularly difficult and there is no denying that.
"Whoever forms the parliamentary party will look at the options going forward and will assess the current state of the Conservative Party and how it rebuilds after this election result."
But after his humbling loss to the SNP, Mr Ross said he had "no regrets".
He added: "Could I have done things differently? Absolutely.
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"There's no shadow of a doubt about that. But I would have forever questioned 'what if' if I hadn't put myself forward here."
Mr Ross also claimed that he was hurt by 15 per cent of the vote going to Reform UK.