A date has been set for the local council by election caused by the resignation of Elgin City North Labour councillor Barry Jarvis.
Polling is to take place on Thursday, December 11 with the count and declaration being held in Elgin Town Hall the following day.
Councillor Jarvis resigned to return to his former job as a secondary school teacher – he had served the ward for seven years.
The Moray Labour Party have high hopes of retaining the seat in what has traditionally been a strong ward for the SNP who have two councillors serving Elgin City North, Patsy Gowans and Mike Shand.
Fochabers/Lhanbryde councillor Sean Morton said: “The Moray Labour group will hold our first meeting on Monday and all Labour party members will be looking to ensure that we have a strong candidate.
“We have always done well in Elgin City North and I’m sure the voters will want a Labour candidate.
“Compared with other by-elections we have quite a long time so we will pick wisely.”
The Elgin City North ward has an electorate of 9400 and it is hoped that the high 85.4% turnout in Moray at the recent independence referendum will be reflected with a higher than usual turnout for the by-election.