Perthshire North (Scottish Parliament constituency)

Perthshire North is a constituency of the Scottish Parliament (Holyrood) covering part of the council area of Perth and Kinross. It elects one Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) by the plurality (first past the post) method of election. It is one of nine constituencies in the Mid Scotland and Fife electoral region, which elects seven additional members, in addition to the nine constituency MSPs, to produce a form of proportional representation for the region as a whole.

Perthshire North
County constituency
for the Scottish Parliament
Perthshire North shown within the Mid Scotland and Fife electoral region and the region shown within Scotland
Population72,577 (2019)[1]
Current constituency
Created2011
PartyScottish National Party
MSPJohn Swinney
Council areaPerth and Kinross
Created fromNorth Tayside,
Perth

The constituency was created for the 2011 Scottish Parliament election, and comprises areas that were formerly part of the constituencies of Angus, Perth and North Tayside, which were abolished.[2] Since first created it has been held by John Swinney of the Scottish National Party, who was previously the member for North Tayside.

Electoral region

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The other eight constituencies of the Mid Scotland and Fife region are: Clackmannanshire and Dunblane, Cowdenbeath, Dunfermline, Kirkcaldy, Mid Fife and Glenrothes, North East Fife, Perthshire South and Kinross-shire and Stirling.

The region covers all of the Clackmannanshire council area, all of the Fife council area, all of the Perth and Kinross council area and all of the Stirling council area.

Constituency boundaries and council area

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Map of boundaries from 2011

Perth and Kinross is represented in the Scottish Parliament by two constituencies, Perthshire North and Perthshire South and Kinross-shire, which together cover the entire council area.

When the Scottish Parliament was established constituency boundaries were the same as the pre-existing Westminster (House of Commons) constituencies, and consequently Perth and Kinross was spread across four constituencies: Angus, North Tayside, Ochil and Perth. In 2005 Scottish Westminster constituencies were mostly replaced with new constituencies whilst Scottish Parliament constituencies were left unchanged for the 2007 election.[3] Scottish Parliament constituencies were reviewed ahead of the 2011 Scottish Parliament election and the existing constituencies covering Perth and Kinross were abolished, leading to the current situation.

Perthshire North covers the northern part of Perth and Kinross, including part of the City of Perth, and the towns of Aberfeldy, Blairgowrie and Rattray, Coupar Angus, Dunkeld, Pitlochry and Scone. The electoral wards used in Perthshire North are listed below. All of these wards are part of Perth and Kinross:[4]

Member of the Scottish Parliament

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Election Member Party
2011 John Swinney[a] Scottish National Party
  1. ^ Incumbent for North Tayside constituency since 1999.

Election results

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Perthshire North election results 1999-2021

2020s

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2021 Scottish Parliament election: Perthshire North[5][6]
Party Candidate Constituency Regional
Votes % ±% Votes % ±%
SNP John Swinney[a] 19,860 49.5  0.9 16,090 40.1  1.6
Conservative Murdo Fraser[b] 15,807 39.4  0.6 14,670 36.5   1.7
Scottish Green 3,241 8.1  2.1
Labour Ryan Smart 2,324 5.8  1.9 2,838 7.1  0.5
Liberal Democrats Peter Barrett 1,802 4.5  0.5 1,728 4.3  0.4
Alba 658 1.6 New
All for Unity 270 0.7 New
Scottish Family Donald Marshall 334 0.8 New 230 0.6 New
Reform UK 111 0.3 New
Abolish the Scottish Parliament 105 0.3 New
Freedom Alliance (UK) 96 0.2 New
Scottish Libertarian 51 0.1  0.1
UKIP 34 0.1  1.8
Independent Martin Keatings 25 0.1 New
Renew 8 0.0 New
Independent Mercy Kamanja 4 0.0 New
Majority 4,053 10.1  0.3
Valid Votes 40,127 40,159
Invalid Votes 141 73
Turnout 40,268 69.9  6.9 40,232 69.9  6.9
SNP hold Swing
Notes
  1. ^ Incumbent member for this constituency
  2. ^ Incumbent member on the party list, or for another constituency

2010s

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2016 Scottish Parliament election: Perthshire North[6]
Party Candidate Constituency Regional
Votes % ±% Votes % ±%
SNP John Swinney[a] 16,526 48.6  12.2 14,218 41.7  11.4
Conservative Murdo Fraser[b] 13,190 38.8  12.5 13,038 38.2  13.2
Labour Anna McEwan 2,604 7.7  1.2 2,599 7.6  1.4
Scottish Green 2,045 6.0  1.5
Liberal Democrats Peter Barrett 1,705 5.0  1.0 1,336 3.9  0.2
UKIP 634 1.9  0.8
RISE 104 0.3 New
Solidarity 78 0.2  0.1
Scottish Libertarian 60 0.2 New
Majority 3,336 9.8  24.7
Valid Votes 34,025 34,112
Invalid Votes 112 59
Turnout 34,137 63.0  6.7 34,171 63.0  6.7
SNP hold Swing
Notes
  1. ^ Incumbent member for this constituency
  2. ^ Incumbent member on the party list, or for another constituency
2011 Scottish Parliament election: Perthshire North[7][8]
Party Candidate Constituency Region
Votes % ±% Votes % ±%
SNP John Swinney[a] 18,219 60.8 N/A 15,908 53.1 N/A
Conservative Murdo Fraser[b] 7,866 26.3 N/A 7,491 25.0 N/A
Labour Pete Cheema 2,672 8.9 N/A 2,690 9.0 N/A
Scottish Green 1,359 4.5 N/A
Liberal Democrats Victor Clements 1,196 4.0 N/A 1,121 3.7 N/A
Scottish Senior Citizens 440 1.5 N/A
UKIP 334 1.1 N/A
BNP 187 0.6 N/A
Scottish Christian 110 0.4 N/A
Socialist Labour 97 0.3 N/A
CPA 88 0.3 N/A
Scottish Socialist 74 0.2 N/A
Independent Andrew Roger 42 0.1 N/A
Solidarity 17 0.1 N/A
Majority 10,353 34.5 N/A
Valid Votes 29,953 29,958
Invalid Votes 117 117
Turnout 30,070 56.3 N/A 30,075 56.3 N/A
SNP win (new seat)
Notes
  1. ^ Incumbent member for the North Tayside constituency
  2. ^ Incumbent member on the party list, or for another constituency

References

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  1. ^ "Scottish Parliamentary Constituency (SPC) Population Estimates (2011 Data Zone based)". National Records of Scotland. Retrieved 6 May 2021."accompanying summary notes".
  2. ^ "The New Scottish Parliament Constituencies 2011" (PDF). BBC News online. 8 September 2010. p. 25. Retrieved 24 November 2021.
  3. ^ "The 5th Periodical Report of the Boundary Commission for Scotland" (PDF). Boundary Commission for Scotland. December 2004. Retrieved 15 July 2021.
  4. ^ "First Periodic Review of Scottish Parliament Boundaries Final Report" (PDF). Boundaries Scotland. May 2010. p. 160. Retrieved 7 July 2021.
  5. ^ "Constituencies A-Z: Perthshire North". BBC News. Retrieved 7 May 2021.
  6. ^ a b "Scottish Parliamentary election results". Retrieved 15 July 2021.
  7. ^ "Results and turnout at the 2011 Scottish Parliament election". Electoral Commission. Retrieved 3 June 2021.
  8. ^ "2011 Election analysis (Excel 2.37MB)". Scottish Parliament. Retrieved 23 June 2021.
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Preceded by Constituency represented by the First Minister
2024 – present
Incumbent