FORMER Tory MP David Duguid only found out Douglas Ross had replaced him as a constituency candidate through the press and revealed he has had no contact from party officials since.
Duguid was hospitalised earlier this year after suffering a spinal stroke that left him unable to walk and “flatlined” twice during his recovery due to nerve problems.
The former MP believed he would be standing as a candidate in the General Election as his health improved but was sidelined after a visit from a Scottish Conservative official.
He told the BBC how he was “stressed” due to being put out from work and that he learned that Douglas Ross, who previously promised not to go back to Westminster, had replaced him through reports from the press.
Duguid also said he believed that Ross standing in his constituency made the SNP throw everything at the seat and said he would have returned as the area's MP once again through enough “sympathy votes”.
Seamus Logan beat Ross by almost 1000 votes to claim the North and Moray East seat for the SNP as the Tories saw a 15% drop in the voting share.
It was one of the few seats gained by the SNP in the July election.
The 53-year-old made it clear to the BBC that he didn’t think it was right the party dropped him in favour of Ross.
The Scottish Tory leader, Ross, announced he would resign as party leader during the election campaign and was heavily criticised by his peers for replacing Dugid as the constituency's candidate.
He also said there had been no contact from party officials since his candidacy was blocked, despite him still recovering from his illness, although he did say some individual politicians have visited him.
His health scare has given him a new lease of life, and now he’s “just glad to be getting better” and took the time to thank the NHS staff who helped him recover.
