FORMER Scottish Secretary David Mundell has revealed he is to stand again at the next General Election.

Mr Mundell, the Tory MP for Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale, said he plans to put himself forward for the seat.

"It is my intention to stand at the next General Election," he told The Herald.

His announcement follows a raft of Conservative MPs south of the Border saying they will not be seeking re-election.

Sajid Javid said on Saturday he will stand down as an MP "after much reflection".

The former chancellor and health secretary, who is MP for the Worcestershire seat of Bromsgrove, said his decision had been accelerated by a Tory party review, which is asking sitting MPs to indicate by a deadline of today whether they want to stand again.

Mr Javid became the 13th Tory MPs who is set to quit at the next election, expected in 2024.

William Wragg, Dehenna Davison and Chloe Smith are among those who have said they will not be standing again.

It is understood today's deadline does not apply to Scottish Conservative MPs.

Two polls published in October and carried out in the wake of the disastrous mini Budget pointed to the Tories heading for a wipeout in Scotland and to lose to Labour overall in the UK.

A YouGov survey for The Times found that the Scottish Tories would net just 12 per cent of votes down seven points since May.

On the same day Savanta ComRes in their poll for the Scotsman had the party winning 15 per cent in Scotland.

If such results happened on polling day, the Tories would likely lose all six of their Westminster constituencies.

“The party looks once again like the minnow it was before its revival under the leadership of Ruth Davidson,” the leading pollster Professor Sir John Curtice told the Times in October.

Mr Mundell, 60, a former Scottish Tory MSP, was first elected to Westminster in 2005.

He served as Secretary of State for Scotland from 2015 to 2019 when he was sacked by Boris Johnson and replaced by Alister Jack.

It is not clear yet whether Mr Mundell's colleague Mr Jack, who represents Dumfries and Galloway, will stand again.

Last month it was reported that Mr Jack had been nominated for a peerage by Mr Johnson in his resignation honours list.

Mr Jack, 59, was appointed by Mr Johnson in 2019 and backed the former PM during the No 10 lockdown parties scandal. He was one of the few ministers who did not resign when Mr Johnson was forced out.

The peerage nomination provoked anger from the leading Scottish historian Sir Tom Devine.

“I doubt whether there has ever been a more disgraceful resignation honours list than that being contemplated and reported than that from the comprehensively discredited former Prime Minister Boris Johnson,” Devine told The Herald on Sunday last month.

“The lackeys mentioned in the list, including the Secretary of State for Scotland, have only one thing in common: unceasing, adoring and supine loyalty to the most amoral Prime Minister, not only in living memory, but for a very long time before that."

It is understood that if Mr Jack’s peerage goes ahead, he would remain as an MP until the next general election and take up his Lords seat then.

He kept his cabinet job during the short Liz Truss administration and was reappointed by Rishi Sunak.

However, it has been reported that Mr Sunak is considering blocking Mr Johnson’s list while the House of Lords Appointment Commission is also said to be closely examining it.

A spokesperson for Alister Jack has previously said: “We cannot comment on speculation about peerages. Alister Jack is absolutely committed to representing his constituents and working with the Prime Minister to continue to deliver for people in Scotland.”

The issue came up when Mr Jack gave evidence to the Scottish Affairs Committee last week.

When asked about reports that he was in line for a peerage, he said: "I would not want to comment on speculation, but I think that I can safely say that no one in any official capacity has written me a letter offering me a seat in the House of Lords." 

The committee chair Pete Wishart, the SNP MP, responded: "That is reassuring to this Committee."

Mr Jack added: "It is also reassuring to the people of Dumfries and Galloway that we will not be having a by-election."

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has said the next general election will be a "de facto" independence referendum with a win for the independence side being a result where it gained the majority of votes.

The Conservatives and Labour reject her plan with shadow Scottish Secretary Ian Murray last month telling The Herald the vote will be a referendum on the Tories in power.