Researching Douglas Ross

Ross's bête noires during his parliamentary career were Liberal Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation and government bureaucracy - all of which he railed against as an MP.

He accused King of encouraging Hitler by turning down a British request in 1937 to train 25,000 airmen a year, and subsequently criticized the government for its increasing economic reliance on trade with the "unstable" United States rather than the "stable" United Kingdom. He later implied that King was responsible for the war for not having articulated a clear policy within the British Commonwealth.

Once World War II began, Ross urged the registration of all men and women in the country as a war measure in order to mobilize all Canadian resources for the war effort and to curb espionage. After the war, he advocated universal voluntary military training for high school and university students.

Ross criticized Max Ferguson's popular satirical Rawhide show as "meaningless ravings and tripe" and as an insult to the intelligence of Canadians.

In his professional life, Ross was vice-president of the Dominion of Canada General Insurance Company.

The son of Roderick Ross, then serving in Canterbury City Police, he was born in Ramsgate, Kent, England. After active service with the Royal Scots between 1915 and 1919, he joined the Manchester City Police in 1920. He then transferred to Edinburgh City Police, of which his father was then Chief Constable, in 1922 and rose through the ranks to Superintendent. He was appointed Chief Constable of Sutherland on 5 May 1933. His starting salary was £400 per annum, which rose by £20 every second year until 1939. He continued as Chief Constable for 29 years, retiring on 5 April 1962, the day before his 65th birthday. He was Sutherland's last but one Chief Constable.

Ross served as Chief Constable at the same time as his father was still Chief Constable of Edinburgh (1900–1935) and his older brother Donald (died 1981) was Chief Constable of Argyllshire (1927–1961). Douglas Ross died in 1980 in Haddington.

Born in Aberdeen, Ross was educated at Forres Academy. After graduating from the Scottish Agricultural College, he worked on a dairy farm. A member of the Scottish Liberal Democrats in his youth, he switched to the Scottish Conservatives and began his political career as a Scottish Parliament researcher and then a councillor in Moray. He stood unsuccessfully for the Moray UK Parliament constituency in the 2010 and 2015 general elections and for the Scottish Parliament constituency in 2011 and 2016. In the latter election, he was elected as a regional list MSP as one of the additional members for the Highlands and Islands.

Ross was elected to the House of Commons at the 2017 general election, defeating SNP deputy leader Angus Robertson, and was re-elected in 2019 with a reduced majority. He served as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Scotland under Prime Minister Boris Johnson for six months. He resigned in May 2020, in protest at Dominic Cummings continuing to serve as Johnson's adviser after breaking lockdown rules during the COVID-19 pandemic.

After the resignation of Jackson Carlaw in July 2020, Ross announced his candidature in the August 2020 Scottish Conservative Party leadership election. Five days later, he was elected leader unopposed. He ran on a joint ticket with former Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson. Since he served in the House of Commons and was not an MSP, Davidson led the party in the Scottish Parliament until the 2021 Scottish Parliament election.