The principal interest in Kincardineshire had been that of George Keith, Earl Marischal, the hereditary sheriff of the county, a Jacobite who was attainted for his part in the Fifteen, whereupon the Government nominated deputy sheriffs as the returning officer.

In 1715 James Scott of Comieston, a Whig, defeated a Jacobite. He was unopposed in 1722 and 1727 but in 1734 he was defeated by John Falconer, also a Whig, who was returned with the support of George Keith, Earl of Kintore, now a government supporter, and a cousin of the attainted Earl Marischal. In 1741 Kintore, who had been appointed principal sheriff, supported Sir James Carnegie, the Whig heir to the attainted earldom of Southesk, who held the seat until 1765.