Former MP Duguid leaves spinal injuries clinic on foot

Ousted former MP David Duguid has thanked medical staff who aided his recovery after he left a spinal injuries clinic on foot.

Mr Duguid suffered a spinal stroke in April, later contracting pneumonia and had been undergoing rehabilitation in Glasgow since May.

The former MP was barred by Scottish Conservative officials from running for the Aberdeenshire North and Moray East seat in this year’s general election on health grounds, despite having said he was looking forward to campaigning.

Then Scottish Tory leader Douglas Ross announced he would stand for the seat instead, but faced internal criticism after U-turning on his previous decision not to seek election.

Mr Ross lost the seat to the SNP on July 4 and stepped down as party leader, with Mr Duguid later saying he thinks he would have won the constituency if he had been allowed to stand.

On Tuesday, Mr Duguid posted footage on social media of himself walking out of the unit in the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital campus in Glasgow aided by crutches, and then getting himself and his wheelchair into his car, and setting off behind the wheel to drive home.

The former Scotland Office minister wrote: “I always said was going to WALK out of the Spinal Injuries Unit in #glasgow. Now I have, and for the last time!

“I’ve said it before but I really can’t thank enough the fantastic NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde doctors, therapists, nursing staff and everyone else who has made my rehabilitation as successful as it has been.

“I wouldn’t have chosen to have a #spinalstroke back in April – and certainly not the hospital acquired pneumonia that followed – but as soon as I arrived in Glasgow and my rehabilitation started in early May, I knew I was in the right place and have, for the most part, really enjoyed my rehab journey.

“In June, my consultant said that there was no medical reason I couldn’t go home at that point, but that I wouldn’t receive the benefit of the therapy I continued to receive as long as I continued to meet short term objectives.”

He thanked his family, office manager and everyone who supported him, and gave special thanks to his wife Rose, describing her as “the most faithful, devoted, supportive life partner anybody could hope for, and for whom I will continue to be thankful forever”.

Mr Duguid was elected in 2017 as MP for Banff and Buchan, which was later expanded as part of boundary changes and renamed Aberdeenshire North and Moray East.

He served twice as a junior minister in the Scotland Office, from June 2020 to September 2021 and from September-October 2022.