reduced slightly in 2010 before increasing again in 2015. 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 of Moray was thought of as very safe for the SNP since the 2003 Scottish Parliament election, however in 2016 the SNP's majority in the constituency was cut by the Conservatives from 10,944 (38.3%) to 2,875 (8.6%). In the 2017 Moray Council election, the Conservatives were for the first time the largest party by votes cast in Moray; they had the highest first-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 the Laich of Moray, covering the towns of Elgin, Forres, Lossiemouth, Burghead, Hopeman and Lhanbryde; whilst the SNP were ahead in the three electoral wards covering Buckie, Cullen, Keith and Speyside. Douglas Ross gained the seat for the Conservative Party at the 2017 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 the Scottish National Party at the 2017 general election; the other major loss being former SNP leader and First Minister Alex Salmond losing his Gordon seat to Colin Clark of the Conservatives. In a profile of the seat for The 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." Members of Parliament Election results Elections in the 2010s Elections in the 2000s Elections in the 1990s Elections in the 1980s References External links 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) Westminster Parliamentary constituencies in Scotland Politics of Moray Constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom established in 1983