Candidates and Constituency Assessments

'The Lib Dems swallow the most indigestible of Labour policies. They have allowed the theft of 6000 square miles of Scottish fishing waters, re-announcements of the same money again and again and let us not forget their verbal somersaults on tuition fees.' SNP President Dr Winnie Ewing at the 2000 SNP Conference.

Moray

	Angus Robertson		Catriona Munro
	Frank Spencer-Nairn		Linda Gorn
	Norma Anderson		Charles Kenyon
Moray Ind	Bill Jappy

In 1983, the boundary commission, in its infinite wisdom, shattered the north-east coast seats of Moray & Nairn and Banffshire. Nairn was grafted on to Inverness while the majority of Banffshire was anonymously relocated to Moray. This time around the boundary changes are less dramatic with Keith and the Strathisla area being transferred to Gordon.

Moray has an intriguing name, conjuring images of Macbeth, (made notorious by Shakespeare's brilliant drama but travesty of history) who was Mormaor of Moray and one of Scotland's greatest Kings; of Sir Andrew Moray or 'de Moravia', Wallace's co-commander at Stirling Bridge; of the Regent Moray, brother of Mary Queen of Scots; and of his son-in-law the 'Bonnie Earl of Moray', all of whom died violent deaths.

More recently a new dynasty has been fighting for Moray - that of the Ewings. This Ewing dynasty has represented one of Scotland's whisky producing areas, not the Texas oil fields. There is however, a Dallas connection as the original Dallas is in Moray and Historic Scotland still run the 'Dallas Dhu' distillery which produces the famous 'Rhoderic Dhu' whisky.

The Scottish National Party contested the typical safe rural Conservative seat of Moray & Nairn for the first time in 1970 and their candidate T. A. Howe came second with 7,885 votes (28.2 %). In February 1974, Mrs Winnifred Ewing, whose spectacular 1967 by-election victory in Hamilton set the SNP on the road to success, astonished the Tory establishment by taking Moray & Nairn with 16,046 votes (49.3 %). Conservative shock was increased by the fact that the defeated MP was none other than the Conservative Secretary of State for Scotland, Mr Gordon Campbell. In the aftermath of the Tory rout in 1997, when three cabinet ministers lost their seats in Scotland, this does not sound so extraordinary. However when one realises that in the 13 elections between 1945 and 1997, only six serving Cabinet Ministers lost their seats in the whole of the United Kingdom, the occasion can be seen to have been a truly momentous one.

Gordon Campbell was shunted off to the traditional asylum for defeated Scottish Conservative MPs, the House of Lords, as Lord Campbell of Croy. In October 1974, he was replaced by Alex Pollock, who had contested West Lothian in February 1974. The Tories fought back with a vengeance and Alex Pollock, an Edinburgh-based advocate, managed to claw Winnie Ewing's majority to 367.

In 1979, despite the fact that the SNP vote nationwide crashed from 30.4 % to 17.3 %, Mrs Ewing polled 1,133 more votes than in October 1974. However, Mr Pollock increased the Tory vote by 1,920, allowing him to win back Moray & Nairn for the Conservatives with a 420 majority over Winnie Ewing.

A few months after the 1979 General Election, Winnie Ewing was elected as SNP MEP for the Highlands & Islands, a seat which she represented until 1999 as 'Madame Ecosse', becoming the longest serving member of the European Parliament. She is currently SNP MSP for the Highlands & Islands and the Mother of the Scottish Parliament. When she opened the parliament on the12 th of May 1999 sh uttered the historic phrase 'The Scottish Parliament, adjourned on the 25 th day of March in the year 1707, is hereby reconvened.'

In 1983, the new SNP candidate was Hamish Watt, who as MP for Banffshire from February 1974-1979, had represented a third of the new Moray electorate. Hamish Watt took 15,231 votes and 16,944 leaving Mr Pollock to represent the new Moray seat for the Tories with a majority of 1,713. In 1999, Mr Watt contested Gordon in the Scottish Parliamentary elections as an independent, taking 2,559 votes.

At the 1987 election, Alex Pollock was faced by another member of the Ewing clan - Winnie Ewing's daughter-in-law, Margaret Ewing. As Margaret Bain, she had represented East Dunbartonshire, the UK's most marginal constituency, between October 1974 and 1979. There was a 6.1 % swing from Conservative to SNP allowing Margaret Ewing to become the second member of the Ewing clan to represent Moray. He majority was 3,685, the largest that the constituency had seen in almost 20 years.

In 1992, the Tories fought the General Election under a new leader, John Major, having got rid of Margaret Thatcher in November 1990 and without the Hammer of the Scots to drag them down, there was a revival of Conservative fortunes throughout Scotland. The new Tory candidate in Moray was Elgin-born Roma Hossack, a community councillor, Justice of the Peace and chairman of the local health council. Mrs Hossack increased the Tory vote by 1,620 to 17,455. However, Mrs Ewing's vote also increased by 785 allowing her to hold Moray, with a reduced majority of 2,844.

On the new Moray boundaries, Margaret Ewing had an increased notional majority of 2,927 (7.1 %) over the Tories in 1997. The Tory candidate this time around was Andrew Findlay, who saw the Conservative vote fall to 10,963, its lowest ever in the constituency. Margaret Ewing was elected for the fourth time as an MP and for the third time in Moray, with a majority of 5,566.

Margaret Ewing was deputy-leader of the SNP from 1984 until 1987 when she was succeeded by the late Dr Allan Macartney. In 1987 she replaced the late Donald Stewart as the party's Parliamentary leader, a post which she held until she was elected to the Scottish Parliament where she is Parliamentary Group Convenor.

In 1997 the Labour candidate was Lewis MacDonald who is now MSP for Aberdeen Central. In 1999, the popular local Labour Councillor Ali Farquharson pushed the Tories into third place by 303 votes, however in 2000 he was expelled by labour for voting while owing Council Tax and the majority in his council seat reduced from 502 to 56 over the SNP.

Margaret Ewing is resigning her Westminster seat to concentrate on the Scottish Parliament. The new SNP candidate is Angus Robertson, European Policy Adviser to the SNP's Scottish Parliamentary Group. He contested Midlothian in the 1999 Scottish election, increasing the SNP vote by 4.5 % to 30.1 %.

The Tory candidate in Moray is Frank Spencer-Nairn while the Liberal Democrats have chosen Linda Gorn to represent them. Labour have selected Catriona Munro, while the SSP candidate is Norma Anderson. The UK Indepennce Party have selected Charles Kenyon and Bill Jappy is standing as a Moray Independent.

1 st May 1997 Westminster Election

Logo	Party	Candidate	Votes	%
	Scottish National Party	Margaret Ewing	16,529	41.57%
	Conservative	Andrew Findlay	10,963	27.57%
	Labour	Lewis MacDonald	7,886	19.83%
	Liberal Democrat	Debra Storr	3,548	8.92%
	Referendum	Paddy Mieklejohn	840	2.11%
	SNP hold	SNP majority	5,566	14.00%

Links

• Moray SNP (Scottish National Party)

• Angus Robertson (Scottish National Party)

• Moray Constituency (Conservative)

• Moray Constituency (Liberal Democrats)