Moray (Scottish Parliament constituency)

Moray (/ˈmʌri/ MURR-ee; Scots: Moray; Scottish Gaelic: Moireibh or Moireabh) is a constituency of the Scottish Parliament (Holyrood) covering most of the council area of Moray. It elects one Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) by the first past the post method of election. It is also one of eight constituencies within the Highlands and Islands electoral region, which elects seven additional members, in addition to the eight constituency MSPs, to produce a form of proportional representation for the region as a whole.

Not to be confused with Moray (UK Parliament constituency).

Moray
County constituency
for the Scottish Parliament
Moray shown within the Highlands and Islands electoral region and the region shown within Scotland
Population80,367 (2019)[1]
Current constituency
Created1999
PartyScottish National Party
MSPRichard Lochhead
Council areaMoray

The seat has been held since 2006 by Richard Lochhead of the Scottish National Party. Lochhead won the seat in a by-election held following death of the previous incumbent, Margaret Ewing of the SNP, from breast cancer.

Electoral region
See also: Highlands and Islands (Scottish Parliament electoral region)

The Moray constituency is part of the Highlands and Islands electoral region; the other seven constituencies are Argyll and Bute, Caithness, Sutherland and Ross, Inverness and Nairn, Na h-Eileanan an Iar, Orkney, Shetland and Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch.

The region covers most of Argyll and Bute council area, all of the Highland council area, most of the Moray council area, all of the Orkney Islands council area, all of the Shetland Islands council area and all of Na h-Eileanan Siar.

Constituency boundaries and council area

The Moray constituency was created at the same time as the Scottish Parliament, in 1999, with the name and boundaries of an existing Westminster constituency. In 2005, however, the Westminster (House of Commons) constituency was enlarged slightly.[2]

The Holyrood constituency covers most of the Moray council area; the rest of the council area is covered by the Banffshire and Buchan Coast constituency, which is in the North East Scotland electoral region. The Moray Westminster constituency has covered the whole of the council area since 2005.

The electoral wards used in the creation of the Moray constituency are:

Member of the Scottish Parliament
ElectionMemberParty
1999 Margaret Ewing[lower-alpha 1] SNP
2006 by-election Richard Lochhead
  1. Died March 2006

Election results
Moray election results 1999-2021

2020s
2021 Scottish Parliament election: Moray[3]
Party Candidate Constituency Regional
Votes % ±% Votes % ±%
SNP Richard Lochhead[lower-alpha 1] 19,987 48.6 Increase1.5 16,600 40.3 Decrease0.9
Conservative Tim Eagle 16,823 40.9 Increase2.4 15,890 38.6 Increase4.0
Labour Jo Kirby 2,972 7.2 Decrease3.4 3,207 7.8 Decrease2.3
Scottish Green 2,531 6.1 Steady0.0
Liberal Democrats Sheila Ritchie 1,165 2.8 Decrease1.0 1,133 2.8 Decrease0.3
Alba 538 1.3 New
All for Unity 238 0.6 New
Independent Andy Wightman[lower-alpha 2] 204 0.5 New
Scottish Family 191 0.5 New
Freedom Alliance (UK) 151 0.4 New
Abolish the Scottish Parliament 148 0.4 New
Reform UK 83 0.2 New
UKIP Robert Stephenson 188 0.5 New 77 0.2 Decrease2.8
Restore Scotland 67 0.2 New
Libertarian 42 0.1 New
Independent Hazel Mansfield 33 0.1 New
TUSC 29 0.1 New
Majority 3,164 7.7 Decrease0.9
Valid Votes 41,135 41,162
Invalid Votes 122 65
Turnout 41,257 65.2 Increase11.1 41,227 65.1 Increase11.0
SNP hold Swing Decrease0.5
Notes
  1. Incumbent member for this constituency
  2. Incumbent member on the list for Lothian region, having been elected as a member of the Scottish Greens in 2016

2010s
2016 Scottish Parliament election: Moray[4]
Party Candidate Constituency Regional
Votes % ±% Votes % ±%
SNP Richard Lochhead[lower-alpha 1] 15,742 47.1 Decrease11.7 13,809 41.2 Decrease12.0
Conservative Douglas Ross 12,867 38.5 Increase18.0 11,571 34.6 Increase16.1
Labour Sean Morton 3,547 10.6 Decrease1.9 3,376 10.1 Decrease1.8
Scottish Green 2,053 6.1 Increase1.8
Liberal Democrats Jamie Paterson 1,265 3.8 Decrease0.9 1,043 3.1 Decrease1.2
UKIP 1,006 3.0 Increase0.4
Scottish Christian 223 0.7 Steady0.0
Independent James Stockan 164 0.5 New
Solidarity 136 0.4 Increase0.3
RISE 105 0.3 New
Majority 2,875 8.6 Decrease29.7
Valid Votes 33,421 33,486
Invalid Votes 123 62
Turnout 33,544 54.1 Increase3.1 33,548 54.1 Increase3.0
SNP hold Swing Decrease14.9
Notes
  1. Incumbent member for this constituency
2011 Scottish Parliament election: Moray[5]
Party Candidate Constituency Regional
Votes % ±% Votes % ±%
SNP Richard Lochhead[lower-alpha 1] 16,817 58.8 N/A 15,226 53.2 N/A
Conservative Douglas Ross 5,873 20.5 N/A 5,302 18.5 N/A
Labour Kieron Green 3,580 12.5 N/A 3,411 11.9 N/A
Scottish Green 1,244 4.3 N/A
Liberal Democrats Jamie Paterson 1,327 4.6 N/A 1,220 4.3 N/A
UKIP Donald Gatt 999 3.5 N/A 732 2.6 N/A
All-Scotland Pensioners Party 445 1.6 N/A
Ban Bankers Bonuses 278 1.0 N/A
BNP 229 0.8 N/A
Scottish Christian 208 0.7 N/A
Socialist Labour 118 0.4 N/A
Liberal 99 0.3 N/A
Scottish Socialist 59 0.2 N/A
Solidarity 28 0.1 N/A
Majority 10,944 38.3 N/A
Valid Votes 28,596 28,599
Invalid Votes 112 114
Turnout 28,708 51.1 N/A 28,703 51.1 N/A
SNP win (new boundaries)
Notes
  1. Incumbent member on the party list, or for another constituency
2007 Scottish Parliament election: Moray
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
SNP Richard Lochhead 15,045 49.7 +7.5
Conservative Mary Scanlon 7,121 23.5 +1.0
Labour Lee Butcher 4,580 15.1 -4.0
Liberal Democrats Dominique Rommel 3,528 11.6 -0.6
Majority 7,924 26.2 +6.5
Turnout 30,274 50.1 +3.8
SNP hold Swing
Scottish Parliament by-election, 2006: Moray
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
SNP Richard Lochhead 12,653 46.1 +3.9
Conservative Mary Scanlon 6,268 22.8 +0.3
Liberal Democrats Linda Gorn 5,310 19.3 +7.1
Labour Sandy Keith 2,696 9.9 -9.2
NHS First Party Melville Brown 493 1.8 New
Majority 6385 23.3 +3.6
Turnout 27,420 45.5 -0.8
SNP hold Swing +1.8
Scottish Parliament Election 2003: Moray
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
SNP Margaret Ewing 11,384 42.2 +4.4
Conservative Tim Wood 6,072 22.5 -3.1
Labour Peter Peacock 5,157 19.1 -6.4
Liberal Democrats Linda Gorn 3,283 12.2 +3.1
Scottish Socialist Norma Anderson 1,015 4.0 New
Majority 5,312 19.7 +7.4
Turnout 26,911 46.3
SNP hold Swing

1990s
Scottish Parliament Election 1999: Moray
Party Candidate Votes %
SNP Margaret Ewing 13,027 38.8
Labour Ali Farquharson 8,898 26.5
Conservative Andrew Findlay 8,595 25.6
Liberal Democrats Patsy Kenton 3,056 9.1
Majority 4,129 12.3
Turnout 33,576
SNP win (new seat)

Notes
  1. Scottish Parliamentary Constituency (SPC) Population Estimates (2011 Data Zone based), National Records of Scotland; retrieved 6 May 2021 (accompanying summary notes)
  2. See The 5th Periodical Report of the Boundary Commission for Scotland Archived 21 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine
  3. "Scottish Parliamentary Election 2021 - Results". Moray Council. 16 September 2016. Retrieved 15 June 2021.
  4. "Scottish Parliamentary Election 2016 - Results". Moray Council. 16 September 2016. Retrieved 15 June 2021.
  5. "Scottish Parliamentary Election 2011 - Results". Moray Council. 3 May 2011. Retrieved 15 June 2021.
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