Graham Leadbitter | |
|---|---|
 Official portrait, 2024 | |
| Member of Parliament for Moray West, Nairn and Strathspey | |
| Assumed office 4 July 2024 | |
| Preceded by | Constituency created |
| Majority | 1,001 (2.1%) |
| Personal details | |
| Political party | Scottish National Party |
| Alma mater | Open University |
Graham Leadbitter is a Scottish National Party (SNP) politician who has been the Member of Parliament for Moray West,Nairn and Strathspey since 2024. [1]
Leadbitter was educated at Biggar High School,and studied computing at the Open University,where he received a diploma. Leadbitter worked as a constituency press officer for then Moray MP Angus Robertson and Moray MSP Richard Lochhead from 2001 until 2007. [2]
Leadbitter has served as a Councillor for the Elgin City South ward on Moray Council since 2007. [3] In 2017 he has made the co-leader of the SNP grouping on the council, [4] and between 2018 and 2022 he served as council leader. Since 2022 he has been a co-leader of the SNP opposition grouping on the council. [2] Leadbitter was selected as the SNP candidate for the Moray West,Nairn and Strathspey constituency in October 2023,and was elected to Parliament at the 2024 general election. [5]
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The County of Nairn is a historic county,registration county and lieutenancy area of Scotland. The county was used for local administration until the county council,based at the county town of Nairn,was abolished in 1975 under the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973,the area becoming one of the eight districts of the two-tier Highland region. This arrangement ended in 1996 when the Highland council area was made a unitary authority.
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A by-election in the Moray constituency of the Scottish Parliament was held on 27 April 2006 following the death of the Scottish National Party (SNP) Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) Margaret Ewing on 21 March 2006,from breast cancer. The seat was successfully defended by the SNP's Richard Lochhead,increasing the majority over the Scottish Conservative Party by 1073 votes.
The politics of the Highland council area in Scotland are evident in the deliberations and decisions of the Highland Council,in elections to the council,and in elections to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom (Westminster) and the Scottish Parliament (Holyrood). In the European Parliament the area was within the Scotland constituency,which covers all of the 32 council areas of Scotland.
Elections to The Moray Council were held on 3 May 2007,the same day as the Scottish Parliament election. The election was the first using the eight new wards created under the Local Governance (Scotland) Act 2004. 26 councillors were elected. Each ward elected either 3 or 4 members,using the STV electoral system. Previously there were single-member wards which used the first past the post electoral system.
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Andrew Egan Henderson Hendry,known as Drew Hendry,is a Scottish National Party (SNP) politician who served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Inverness,Nairn,Badenoch and Strathspey from 2015 until 2024,when the seat was abolished. Hendry has served as the SNP's Economy Spokesperson in the House of Commons since September 2023.
Douglas Gordon Ross is a Scottish politician who has served as Leader of the Scottish Conservative Party since 2020 and Leader of the Opposition in Scotland since 2021. He served as Member of the UK Parliament (MP) for Moray from 2017 to 2024. Ross currently serves as a Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for the Highlands and Islands,having been elected as a regional list MSP in 2021. He was previously MSP for the region from 2016 to 2017.
There was a Scottish National Party leadership election to choose the new Depute leader of the Scottish National Party at the SNP's conference on 14–15 October 2016. The SNP's Westminster Group Leader Angus Robertson MP won the election.
The 2017 elections to Moray Council were held on Thursday 4 May 2017,on the same day as the 31 other local authorities in Scotland. It was the third successive Local Council election to run under the STV Electoral System. The election used the eight wards created under the Local Governance (Scotland) Act 2004,with 26 Councillors being elected. Each ward elected either 3 or 4 members,using the STV electoral system.
Ariane Claire Burgess is a Scottish politician who has been a Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for Highlands and Islands since 2021. A member of the Scottish Greens,she has served as the Scottish Parliament's Convener of the Local Government,Housing and Planning Committee since 2021.
The 2022 election to Moray Council took place on 5 May 2022,on the same day as the 31 other local authorities in Scotland. The election used the eight wards created under the Local Governance (Scotland) Act 2004,with 26 Councillors elected. Each ward elects either 3 or 4 members,using the STV electoral system.
Moray West,Nairn and Strathspey is a constituency of the House of Commons in the UK Parliament. Further to the completion of the 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies,it was first contested at the 2024 general election,and is currently represented by Graham Leadbitter.
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