Historically Moray was predominantly represented by the Conservative Party. The constituency's predecessor seats of Banffshire and Moray and Nairn were represented by the Conservatives almost continuously from the 1935 general election until both seats were abolished to form Moray in 1983, with the electorate briefly voting SNP at the February and October general elections in 1974. When the Moray constituency was first established in 1983, it elected Alexander Pollock of the Conservatives as MP with a 1,713 (4.0%) majority, but the SNP's Margaret Ewing won the seat at the following general election in 1987, alongside neighbouring Banff and Buchan as part of a wider breakthrough for the SNP in the north-east of Scotland.