General Election: Incumbents to watch

Overview: David Steel’s successor in the Scottish Borders, Michael Moore was the Scottish Secretary who negotiated the terms of the referendum on Scottish independence with the SNP Government at Holyrood, before being replaced by the more combative Alistair Carmichael during the campaign. With Liberal Democrats plummeting in the polls in Scotland, the Conservatives see an opportunity to take this long-coveted target seat.
Background: Like Steel, Moore is the son of a Church of Scotland Minister. Born in Northern Ireland, educated in Scotland at Strathallan School and Jedburgh Grammar School, he read politics and modern history at Edinburgh University, and worked as a chartered accountant for Coopers and Lybrand. He married in 2004 and has a daughter. His wife Alison was his constituency case worker. 
Political career:  In the 2007 contest he supported Nick Clegg, who moved him to be Shadow International Development Secretary. In 2008 he added Scotland and Northern Ireland to his brief.
He won an unexpected promotion into the Cabinet as Secretary of State for Scotland less than three weeks into the Coalition Government in 2010, replacing Danny Alexander after the sudden resignation of David Laws. 
Less than a year before the independence referendum however he was sacked from the Government and replaced by Alistair Carmichael. Nick Clegg said he needed “different experience” in the run-up to the vote.

Overview: A former law lecturer and local party activist, William ‘Willie’ Bain comfortably fought off the nationalist challenge to take Glasgow North East for Labour in the by-election of November 2009, caused by the resignation of the ousted Speaker Michael Martin. According to Lord Ashcroft’s constituency polling Bain is the sole Glasgow Labour MP set to retain his seat.
Background: Born in the Springburn district of Glasgow in 1972 to William Bain, a former lift engineer and Catherine Bain, a payroll clerk, Bain was a senior lecturer in public law at London South Bank University between 2004 and 2009.
Political Career: Bain almost doubled his majority at the 2010 General Election. A member of the “Blairite” pressure group Progress, he supported David Miliband in the leadership contest.
In October 2011 he was promoted to Shadow Minister for Scotland, number two to Margaret Curran, leading a team of “Natbusters” to counter the threat from the Scottish National Party. In 2013 he was dropped from the team and returned to the backbenches.

Overview: Former student leader Jim Murphy is now setting his sights on First Minister of Scotland. However, he has a fight on his hands before then with latest constituency polling suggesting he is set to lose his Westminster seat to the SNP.
Background: The son of a plumber, Murphy went to the Roman Catholic Bellarmine secondary school in Glasgow, then spent his teens in South Africa after his parents emigrated; but left to avoid national service in the South African army. He studied at night school and read law and politics at Strathclyde University.
He married Claire Cook in 1998. He has three children.
Political Career: The former NUS president was an enthusiastic young moderniser who captured the Conservatives’ safest seat in Scotland in 1997 at the age of 29. 
In 2001 he scotched any prospect of a Tory recovery north of the border when he trounced their star candidate Raymond Robertson and trebled his majority. 
One of David Miliband’s campaign managers in the leadership contest, he may have been too Blairite for Ed Miliband, who demoted him to a less prominent role of Shadow International Development Secretary in 2013.
He became Scottish Labour leader in 2014 and intends to stand for Holyrood in 2016. Many expected him to stand down as an MP in 2015. He has said if he becomes First Minister in 2016 he would then stand down from Westminster.

Overview: As a seasoned Scottish politician, it would be extremely damaging for Labour’s shadow Secretary of State for Scotland to lose Glasgow East but polls are indicating she will. 
Background: Curran was born in 1958 of Irish descent, the daughter of a labourer and a cleaner. 
She is married to Robert Murray, lives in Glasgow and has two sons.
Political Career: In 1999 she was elected to the Scottish Parliament for Glasgow Baillieston and was quickly promoted, first as a Whip and then Deputy Minister for Social Justice in the Labour administration. She went on to lead on Social Justice and became Minister for Parliamentary Business in 2004.
She was seen as a possible successor to Jack McConnell as leader of the opposition, but declined to stand against Wendy Alexander. She arrived at Westminster in 2010, and supported Ed Miliband in the leadership contest. Within five months she was promoted to shadow Minister for Work and Pensions A year later she was elevated to the shadow Cabinet as Shadow Secretary of State for Scotland.

Overview: A PR man with a history in the European movement, Danny Alexander became Nick Clegg’s trusted lieutenant. He became Chief Secretary to the Treasury in 2010. Alexander is, according to the polls, struggling to hang onto his seat against the march of the SNP and the Lib Dems have thrown a lot of resource at retaining it.
Background: Born in Edinburgh in 1972, he spent his early years on the remote Hebridean island of Colonsay. His family returned to the mainland in 1980 and he went, like his former party leader Charles Kennedy, to Lochaber High School in Fort William.
He went on to read philosophy, politics and economics at St Anne’s College, Oxford.
He is married to journalist Rebecca Hoar. They have two daughters.
Political Career: Winning the new seat in 2005, it was the first time Alexander had stood for any elected office. 
He chaired the group which prepared the Manifesto for the 2010 election, and took a leading role in the negotiations with the Conservatives and with Labour, which resulted in the Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition.
He duly reaped his reward as one of the Party’s first Cabinet Ministers, Secretary of State for Scotland, a post which he argued should be abolished before the election. Less than three weeks later he moved to be Chief Secretary to the Treasury after the resignation of David Laws. 

Overview: Frequently teased for being outnumbered by Scotland’s pandas, Scotland’s only Conservative MP faces a scrap with SNP candidate Emma Harper, who is running neck-and-neck in the polls. 
Background: Born in Dumfries in 1962, son of an hotelier, David Mundell went to Lockerbie Academy, read law at Edinburgh University and took a master’s degree in business administration at Strathclyde University Business School.
He worked as a solicitor in private practice before joining BT as group legal adviser for Scotland in 1991, rising to become BT Scotland’s head of national affairs.
Political Career: David Mundell was elected to Holyrood from the South of Scotland regional list in 1999, and served on committees concerned with Europe, legislative scrutiny and enterprise and lifelong learning.
In 2005 he became Scotland’s only Conservative MP, before increasing his majority in 2010.
Outwith the election he faces another fight to keep his seat at Westminster. The Boundary Commission proposes to split “DCT” – as he calls it – among three enlarged neighbouring constituencies, all currently held by Labour MPs. He said he supported the principle of equalising constituency sizes, but hinted that he might still contest the plan.