Moray Update

The Presiding Officer has set the date for the Moray By-Election as Thursday 27 April, one week before Local Elections in England.

This By-Election is a first for the SNP: it's the first time they're defending a seat in one, rather than trying to win it. Clearly, Margaret Ewing had a strong personal vote, but as the main Opposition party, they should be in a position to hold on fairly comfortably, and it's likely that Richard Lochhead's break from the Scottish Parliament will be a short one.

2003 result: Ewing (SNP) 11,384 (42.19%); Wood (Con) 6,072 (22.50%); Peacock (Lab) 5,157 (19.11%); Gorn (LD) 3,283 (12.17%); Anderson (SSP) 1,085 (4.02%)