Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

John Swinney blasts ‘despicable’ Douglas Ross as SNP targets Aberdeenshire North and Moray East

The first minister reacted to shock over Mr Ross's decision to enter the contest after blocking hospitalised candidate David Duguid from standing.

First Minister John Swinney. Image: PA.
First Minister John Swinney. Image: PA.

John Swinney has blasted the “despicable” actions of Douglas Ross as he talked up the SNP’s fresh hopes of winning Aberdeenshire North and Moray East.

The first minister said he was “disgusted” by the Scottish Tory leader’s decision to block his candidate David Duguid from standing because of health concerns.

Mr Duguid was Tory MP for Banff and Buchan from 2017 and hoped to contest the new seat even though he had been in intensive care in hospital for weeks and was still recovering.

On Thursday, Mr Ross stepped in and decided to take on the job himself – despite his promise to step down as Moray MP and focus on his MSP job and leadership role.

Douglas Ross and David Duguid. Image: Scott Baxter/DC Thomson.

Speaking in Glasgow during an election campaign event on Friday, Mr Swinney said: “I genuinely was disgusted by what I witnessed.

“What has happened there is the most despicable way to treat somebody who is facing illness.

“I am disgusted by it, horrified by it, I think it’s no way to treat another human being.”

Mr Swinney claimed he is confident that SNP candidate Seamus Logan’s chances of winning the target seat are now “a great deal better”.

Moray MSP Richard Lochhead. Image: Fraser Bremner.

The SNP leader said Mr Duguid was “well-respected” by parliamentarians from across the chamber in Westminster.

He drew comparisons with unwell Moray SNP MSP Richard Lochhead, who is taking time off from Holyrood after a major surgery.

The news was broken to Mr Duguid by Tory representatives on Wednesday, just over 12 hours before Mr Ross revealed he would be the candidate.

Mr Duguid meanwhile rejected claims he is “unable to stand” as “simply incorrect”.

Posting on social media, he said it was the party management board “that decided not to allow me to be the candidate, although none of them had visited me”.

He wrote: “They apparently took this decision based on two visits from the party director and without receiving any professional medical prognosis.”

The former MP – who will not be eligible for a redundancy payment from Parliament – added he was “very saddened by the way this whole episode has unfolded”.

‘Mixed’ reaction

We revealed on Thursday that the Tory leader’s own MSP group was caught by surprise.

Insiders said the mood was “mixed” and warned it is “not tenable” for Mr Ross to serve at both Holyrood and Westminster for another five years.

A Tory spokesperson said: “The party management board took an incredibly difficult decision to conclude that David Duguid could not stand at this election for health reasons.

“Everyone wishes David well in his continued recovery and look forward to his return to frontline politics.

“Given the short timeframe to ensure we had a candidate in this key seat, Douglas decided he needed to lead from the front and stop this area being represented by an SNP MP.”


Read more:

Conversation