Moray By-election

'Margaret Ewing built up an excellent reputation and was a great champion for local communities and people recognise that.'
SNP candidate Richard Lochhead, 14 th April 2006.

Five candidates to contest Moray

From BBC Scotland News, 10 th April 2006

Five candidates are to contest the Moray by-election for the Scottish Parliament after the deadline for nominations closed on Monday.

Nationalist MSP Margaret Ewing had served the constituency until her death last month after a long illness.

The by-election will see two candidates give up existing Holyrood list seats in order to fight the constituency seat.

Defeat for either Nationalist Richard Lochhead or Tory Mary Scanlon would force them to leave frontline politics.

Their decision to stand for a constituency seat has meant there will be two new list MSPs at Holyrood.

Mr Lochhead is being replaced on the north east list by the SNP's Maureen Watt, while David Petrie will take Mrs Scanlon's place as a Tory list MSP in Highlands and Islands.

New party Meanwhile, Labour has selected local councillor Sandy Keith as its by-election candidate, and Lib Dem local councillor Linda Gorn will stand for her party.

Alongside the four main parties fighting the by-election is NHSFirst which was only registered as a political party with electoral commission on Friday 7 April. The party's chairman, Melville Brown, will stand.

At the 2003 Holyrood election, Mrs Ewing had a majority of 5,312 over the Tories. Labour finished third and the Liberal Democrats fourth.

List of by-election candidates

Five candidates are to fight the Moray by-election

Voters go to the polls on Thursday 27 April to elect a new MSP for the Holyrood seat of Moray.

The by-election resulted from the death of Margaret Ewing who had served Moray as a Nationalist MSP since 1999.

In the 2003 election, Ms Ewing held the seat for the Scottish National Party with a majority of 5,312 and a 42.2% share of the vote. Turnout was 46.3%.

The candidates for the by-election are listed in alphabetical order, as provided by the returning officer.

Melville Brown - NHSFirst Party
Linda June Gorn - Scottish Liberal Democrats
Alexander Keith - Scottish Labour Party
Richard Neilson Lochhead - Scottish National Party
Mary Scanlon - Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party

The 2003 result was as follows:

Margaret Ewing (SNP) 11,384 votes, a 42.2% share of the vote;
Tim Wood (Conservative) 6,072 votes, a 22.5% share of the vote;
Peter Peacock (Labour) 5,157 votes, a 19.1% share of the vote;
Linda Gorn (Liberal Democrats) 3,283 votes, 12.2% share of the vote;
Norma Anderson (Scottish Socialist Party), 1,085 votes 4.0% share of the vote.

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