DOUGLAS Ross is to stand in the General Election in a major U-turn, according to reports.

We told how the Scottish Tory leader had called a last-minute press conference in Edinburgh to make an “election announcement”.

It comes after former Scotland Office minister David Duguid was not selected as the party’s candidate in Aberdeenshire North and Moray East.

Speaking in 2022, Ross was adamant that he would not stand again, saying: "I won't contest Moray again at the next election, whether it's 23 or 24."

Ross had been an MP since unexpectedly defeating then-SNP Westminster leader Angus Robertson in the 2017 General Election. 

However, his former Moray constituency has been abolished under boundary changes and has now been cut in two with Keith and Buckie being swallowed up by Aberdeenshire North and Moray East while Elgin joins a new Moray West, Nairn and Strathspey seat. 

He has also been an MSP for the Highlands and Islands since 2021. 

Duguid, who has been the MP for Banff and Buchan since 2017, said on Wednesday he had not been selected to stand in the Aberdeenshire North and Moray East constituency. 

He recently spent four weeks in the intensive care unit at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary due to an illness affecting his spine.