Malcolm Moss was born in Audenshaw, Manchester, on March 6, 1943. The father of two girls was widowed in 1997 and he remarried in May 2000. He was educated at Audenshaw Grammar School from 1954-1962; and St John`s College, Cambridge University, from 1962-66. He achieved a BA in 1965, a Certificate of Education in 1966 and an MA in 1969.

Mr Moss was Personal Assistant to Sir Brian Mawhinney MP in the Peterborough Parliamentary Constituency during the 1983 General Election, and the following year was Personal Assistant to Sir Fred Catherwood MEP in the Cambridgeshire and North Bedfordshire Constituency during the European Parliamentary Election. In 1985 he was Treasurer of the North East Cambridgeshire Conservative Association.

He was adopted as Prospective Parliamentary Candidate for North East Cambridgeshire in June 1985, and won the seat from Clement Freud in June 1987. In the 1992 General Election he increased the majority from 1,428 to 15,093, a 10.6 per cent swing from the Liberal Democrats.

In Parliament, Mr. Moss has served on the Back Bench Energy Committee, as Secretary from October 1987 to October 1989, and Vice-Chairman between 1989 and 1991. He sat on the Select Committee for Energy from 1989 to 1991 and from 1987-1994 was Treasurer of the Anglo-Swiss All Party Parliamentary Group.

He was appointed Parliamentary Private Secretary to Tristan Garel-Jones MP, the Minister of State at the Foreign Office, from January 1991 to June 1993, then served as Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Rt Hon Sir Patrick Mayhew, QC, MP, Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, until October 1994.

He was promoted to Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Northern Ireland Office and served as Minister for Health and the Environment from October 1994 until June 1997. He retained his seat in the 1997 General Election with a majority of 5,101.  In opposition he first served as an Opposition Whip from June to October 1997, when he became Shadow Minister for Northern Ireland until November 1999.  He was then appointed Shadow Minister for Agriculture and Fisheries.  He held that position until October 2001.  In the 2001 General Election he increased his majority to 6,323 with a 2% swing and an increased 5% share of the vote. Following this, he was moved to the position of Shadow Minister for Local Government and the Regions until June 2002 followed by a short posting as Shadow Transport Minister responsible for aviation and rural transport.  From October 2002 Mr. Moss served as Shadow Minister for the Department of Culture, Media and Sport responsible for Arts and Tourism, and then Home Affairs and Tourism until April 2005. 

In the 2005 General Election he increased his majority yet again to 8,901 with a 2.12% swing and a 47.53% share of the vote.  He retained his Shadow Ministerial role in DCMS after the Election with responsibilities for tourism, licensing and gambling until November 2006 when he was appointed as a Member of the Foreign Affairs Select Committee.