Moray
Formercounty constituency for theHouse of Commons
Boundary of Moray inScotland
Subdivisions of Scotland	Moray
Major settlements	Elgin,Forres,Keith
1983–2024
Created from	Moray & Nairn andBanffshire[1]
Replaced by	Moray West, Nairn and Strathspey andAberdeenshire North and Moray East

Moray (/ˈmʌri/MURR-ee;Scots:Moray;Scottish Gaelic:Moireibh orMoireabh) was acounty constituency of theHouse of Commons of theParliament of the United Kingdom. It elected oneMember of Parliament (MP) by thefirst past the post system of election.

A rural constituency,Elgin is the main town, with the rest of the population sprinkled across several small fishing and farming communities.

The constituency voted againstScottish independence ina referendum held in 2014 on an above-average margin of 57.6% "No" 42.4% "Yes", and had the highest percentage for "Leave" of any council area in Scotland at the2016 United Kingdom European Union membership referendum at 50.1% "Remain" 49.9% "Leave".^[2]

Further to the completion of the2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies, the seat was abolished. Subject to boundary changes – losing eastern parts, includingBuckie andKeith and expanding to the west, gainingNairn,Badenoch andStrathspey – it was reformed asMoray West, Nairn and Strathspey, and was first contested at the2024 general election.^[3]

Map of boundaries 2005–2024

1983–1997: Moray District.

1997–2005: The Moray District electoral divisions of Buckie, Burghsea, Elgin North East, Elgin South West, Ernedal, Innes-Heldon, Rathford-Lennox, and Speyside-Glenlivet.

2005–2024: TheMoray council area.

The constituency covered the whole of the Moray council area. Between 1997 and 2005, it covered a slightly smaller area. A similar constituency, also calledMoray, is used for elections to theScottish Parliament.

The seat was bordered by the constituencies ofBanff and Buchan,Gordon,Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey, andWest Aberdeenshire and Kincardine.

The constituency was created in 1983 from parts of the former seats ofMoray and Nairn, andBanffshire.^{[citation needed]}

Moray is an affluent rural community in the north-east of Scotland. The constituency followed the southern coastline of theMoray Firth betweenCullen to the east andDyke to the west, on the outskirts ofForres, and extended up towards the northern fringes of theCairngorms National Park along theRiver Spey and its tributaries. The constituency also covers theRiver Lossie and its tributaries, and the lower reaches of theRiver Findhorn.

Agriculture, fishing, tourism and whisky distilling are important in the local economy. Along the north coast of Moray is a mixture offishing towns and villages such asLossiemouth,Portessie andPortknockie. Lossiemouth houses theRAF LossiemouthRoyal Air Force station, which is among the busiest and largest fast-jet stations in the Royal Air Force, and is an important source of employment for those living in theLaich of Moray betweenElgin,Forres and Lossiemouth. On the eastern banks of the River Findhorn, 15 miles south-west of Lossiemouth, is the larger town of Forres, which is the site ofSueno's Stone,Brodie Castle and the Dallas Dhu Distillery.

There is a cluster of whisky distilleries along the River Spey and along the A941 corridor betweenCraigellachie and Moray's capital ofElgin. Elgin is Moray's largest town and the site of theElgin Cathedral. It houses about 25% of Moray's population, and is often referred to as a city despite lackingofficial recognition. According to a 2006 survey conducted byHBOS, Elgin has among the highest property prices of any town in Scotland.

South and east of Elgin, the River Spey and areas east of the river historically belonged to the former county ofBanffshire, while Moray instead incorporated parts ofNairn, which is today included in theHighland council area and in theInverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey parliamentary constituency. The upper reaches of the River Spey stretch down from mountainous terrain in the south to still thinly populated rolling plains. Rural communities in this region predominantly rely upon tourism, whisky distilling and agriculture for employment. In the north-east of Moray,Buckie is a prominent fishing port.

Oil also forms a substantial part of the local economy: over 10% of Moray's population commute toAberdeen andAberdeenshire, primarily working in the oil and gas industry.^{[citation needed]}

Historically Moray was predominantly represented by theConservative Party. The constituency's predecessor seats ofBanffshire andMoray and Nairn were represented by the Conservatives almost continuously from the1935 general election until both seats were abolished to form Moray in1983, with the electorate briefly votingSNP at theFebruary andOctober general elections in 1974. When the Moray constituency was first established in 1983, it electedAlexander Pollock of the Conservatives as MP with a 1,713 (4.0%) majority, but the SNP'sMargaret Ewing won the seat at the followinggeneral election in 1987, alongside neighbouringBanff and Buchan as part of a wider breakthrough for the SNP in the north-east of Scotland.

The constituency was a Conservative-SNPmarginal until Labour's landslide victory in1997, when Margaret Ewing doubled her majority to 5,566 (14.0%). Labour made a breakthrough in the constituency at the2001 general election when Margaret Ewing retired to be replaced byAngus Robertson: Labour came ahead of the Conservatives for the first time, but the SNP beat them by 1,744 votes (5.2%); however the seat reverted to a SNP-Conservative battle from the2005 general election onwards. Angus Robertson increased his majority at the2005 general election; it was reduced slightly in2010 before increasing again in2015.

At the 2015 general election, the Conservatives had their best result in the constituency since 1997; Moray was their strongest vote increase in the whole of Scotland. The equivalent Scottish Parliamentary constituency ofMoray was thought of as very safe for the SNP since the2003 Scottish Parliament election, however in2016 the SNP's majority in the constituency was cut by the Conservatives from 10,944 (38.3%) to 2,875 (8.6%).

In the2017 Moray Council election, the Conservatives were for the first time the largest party by votes cast in Moray; they had the highestfirst-preference votes in five electoral wards. The party were ahead in all wards in the more densely populated north-west of the council area, an area known as theLaich of Moray, covering the towns of Elgin, Forres, Lossiemouth,Burghead,Hopeman andLhanbryde; whilst the SNP were ahead in the three electoral wards covering Buckie, Cullen,Keith andSpeyside.

Douglas Ross gained the seat for the Conservative Party at the2017 snap election, securing 22,637 votes (47.5%), ahead of the sitting SNP MP Angus Robertson's 18,478 votes (38.8%). Robertson's loss was one of the high-profile losses for theScottish National Party at the 2017 general election; the other major loss being former SNP leader andFirst MinisterAlex Salmond losing hisGordon seat toColin Clark of the Conservatives. In a profile of the seat forThe Guardian after the election, journalist Severin Carrell summarised the result: "Moray had been an SNP seat for 30 years but... using Brexit as the basis for a second independence vote so soon after 2014 crystallised an irritation with the party brewing for several years. The Tory cry that Sturgeon needed “to get on with the day job” resonated."^[4]

• Election result, 2010 (BBC)
• Election result, 2005 (BBC)
• Election results, 1997 – 2001 (BBC)
• Election results, 1997 – 2001 (Election Demon)
• Election results, 1983 – 1992 (Election Demon)
• Election results, 1992 – 2005 (Guardian)
• Moray UK Parliament constituency (boundaries April 2005 – May 2024) atMapIt UK

57°30′43″N3°14′53″W / 57.512°N 3.248°W /57.512; -3.248

• Historic parliamentary constituencies in Scotland (Westminster)
• Politics of Moray
• Constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom established in 1983
• Constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom disestablished in 2024

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