Latest headlines
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Victory for the SNP with 63 seats - two short of a majority
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Conservatives are the second largest party on 31 seats - but Labour on 24 lost 13 seats
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Scottish Greens are the fourth largest party with six seats, ahead of the Lib Dems who won five
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See the changing political map of Scotland
Scoreboard
Party | Candidates | Votes | % | Net percentage change in seats |
---|---|---|---|---|
Party
SNP Scottish National Party |
Candidates Richard Lochhead | Votes 15,742 | 47.1% | Net percentage change in seats −11.7 |
Party
CON Scottish Conservatives |
Candidates Douglas Ross | Votes 12,867 | 38.5% | Net percentage change in seats +18.0 |
Party
LAB Scottish Labour |
Candidates Sean Morton | Votes 3,547 | 10.6% | Net percentage change in seats −1.9 |
Party
LD Scottish Lib Dems |
Candidates Jamie Paterson | Votes 1,265 | 3.8% | Net percentage change in seats −0.9 |
Change compared with 2011 |
Turnout and Majority
Scottish National Party Majority
2,875Turnout
53.9%Constituency Profile
The local economy in the rural and coastal seat of Moray relies on farming, forestry and fishing. It is also at the heart of whisky country, with distilleries producing the Speyside malts Glenlivet, Dufftown, Aberlour, Knockando and Balvenie.
The largest conurbation in the seat is Elgin, a market town that is visited each year by large numbers of tourists. Another pull for visitors is the Findhorn Foundation, a holistic community that attracts people from all over the world.
In 1999, the SNP’s Margaret Ewing secured her seat at Holyrood alongside husband Fergus and her mother-in-law Winnie (herself formerly a Moray MP). She regained the seat in 2003 but after being diagnosed with cancer she died in March 2006. The subsequent by-election saw a contest between two sitting MSPs, Tory Mary Scanlon, and the SNP's Richard Lochhead, both of whom had to resign their list seats to fight for the constituency. In that by-election Mr Lochhead won and he retained the seat at both the 2007 and the 2011 Holyrood elections.