Historic SNP victory
Richard Lochhead celebrates his victory
THE SNP has swept to victory in Moray, in a "record-breaking" election which has seen the party storm to an overall majority in the Scottish Parliament.
Richard Lochhead gained 16,817 votes in Moray, giving him a majority of 10,944 over his nearest rival Conservative Douglas Ross who polled 5,873. Labour’s Kieron Green came third with 3,580.
Both Jamie Paterson of the Liberal Democrats and UKIP’s Donald Gatt lost their deposits polling 1,327 and 999 respectively.
Mr Lochhead’s landslide victory was repeated for the SNP throughout Scotland, with the Nationalists confirmed on Friday afternoon as having secured an overall majority. Labour trailed far behind in second, with the Conservatives third and Liberal Democrats fourth.
In a major shift from 2007, the SNP won all of the seats in the north east of Scotland, as the Labour and Lib Dem vote collapsed across the country.
Mr Lochhead said: "This is a record-breaking endorsement of the SNP in Moray and in government.
"For many generations Scotland has been dominated by the Labour party. Moray has changed that by backing the SNP and now the rest of Scotland is following by rejecting Scottish Labour.
"May, 5, 2011 is a day Scottish political history was made, and the landscape changed forever."
The SNP came top in the regional result in Moray with 15,226, followed by the Conservatives on 5,302, then Labour with 3,411 and the Green Party in fourth place with 1,244.
Moray’s result shows a swing of 6.2% from the Conservatives to the SNP from the 2007 ballot.
Of the 56,215 eligible, 28,596 cast their vote in the Moray constituency - a turnout of 51.1%.
There were 112 spoiled ballot papers.
The full results are: Richard Lochhead, Scottish National Party, 16,817 (58.6%); Douglas Ross, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party, 5,873 (20.5%); Kieron Green, Scottish Labour Party, 3,580 (12.5%); Jamie Paterson, Scottish Liberal Democrats 1,327 (4.6%) and Donald Gatt, United Kingdom Independence Party, 999 (3.5%).
Regional list results: All Scotland Pensioners Party 445, Ban Bankers Bonuses 278, BNP 229, Christian Party 208, Conservative Party 5,302, Green Party 1,244, Labour 3,411, Liberal Democrats 1,220, SNP 15,226 Socialist Party 59, Socialist Labour Party 118, Solidarity 28, The Liberal Party 99 and UKIP 732.
