Perth (Scottish Parliament constituency)

Scottish Parliament constituency infobox
Name = Perth
Type = county


Region = Mid Scotland and Fife
Year = 1999
MSP = Roseanna Cunningham
Party = Scottish National Party
Council = Perth and Kinross

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

Electoral region

:"See also "Mid Scotland and Fife Scottish Parliament region

The other eight constituencies of the South of Scotland region are Dunfermline East, Dunfermline West, Fife Central, Fife North East, Kirkcaldy, Ochil, Stirling and Tayside North.

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

Constituency boundaries and council area

The constituency was created at the same time as the Scottish Parliament, in 1999, with the name and boundaries of a pre-existing Westminster (House of Commons) constituency. The area has been covered by Westmister constituencies with differing names but similar boundaries since 1918, but in 2005 Scottish Westminster constituencies were mostly replaced with new constituencies [See [http://www.bcomm-scotland.gov.uk/ "The 5th Periodical Report of the Boundary Commission for Scotland] "] . Most of the Perth Westminster constituency was merged into Ochil and South Perthshire. Part, including the town of Perth, was merged into Perth and North Perthshire.

The Holyrood constituency of Perth covers a central portion of the Perth and Kinross council area. The rest of the council area is covered by two Mid Scotland and Fife constituencies, Ochil and Tayside North, and one North East Scotland constituency, Angus.

The Ochil constituency, to the south of the Perth constituency, also covers the Clackmannanshire council area and a south-eastern portion of the Stirling council area.

Tayside North, to the north of the Perth constituency, also covers a northern portions of the Angus council area.

The Angus constituency, to the north-east of the Perth constituency, also covers a southern portion of the Angus council area and north-western and north-eastern portions of the City of Dundee council area.

Description of the constituency

The constituency is a combination of small prosperous towns and rich agricultural land. It includes the town of Perth and the towns of Bridge of Earn, Auchterarder, Crieff and Comrie. It is a relatively prosperous, largely rural, Lowland seat on the fringe of the Highlands, with successful livestock farming, fruit-growing and tourism interests. Unemployment is relatively low and half the electorate lives in the town of Perth itself.

In Westminster elections the area is traditionally Conservative, and Conservatives have held seats representing the area during most of the period since World War II. Scottish National Party (SNP) tradition is also strong, however, and the SNP has contested every parliamentary election in the area in the same post war period. In the Perth and Kinross Westminster by-election in 1995, the SNP's Roseanna Cunningham won the Perth and Kinross Westminster seat from the Conservatives with an 11.5% swing. She then held the seat in the 1997 United Kingdom general election and went on to be elected to Holyrood in the 1999 Scottish Parliament election, and to be re-elected in the 2003 Scottish Parliament election.

Member of the Scottish Parliament

Election results

Election box candidate with party link
party = Scottish National Party
candidate = Roseanna Cunningham
votes = 13,751
percentage = 39.4
change = +5.5 Election box candidate with party link
party = Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
candidate = Elizabeth Smith
votes = 11,256
percentage = 32.3
change = +0.7

Election box candidate with party link
party = Scottish Liberal Democrats
candidate = Peter Barrett
votes = 4,767
percentage = 13.7
change = +2.5 Election box candidate with party link
party = Scottish Labour Party
candidate = Doug Maughan
votes = 4,513
percentage = 13.0
change = -4.8Election box candidate
party = Free Scotland Party
candidate = Jim Fairlie
votes = 575
percentage = 1.6
change = +1.6Election box majority
votes = 2,495
percentage = 7.2
change = Election box turnout
votes = 34,862
percentage = 56.2
change = Election box hold with party link
winner = Scottish National Party
loser =
swing = +2.4

Election box candidate with party link
party = Scottish National Party
candidate = Roseanna Cunningham
votes = 10,717
percentage = 33.9
change = -2.4 Election box candidate with party link
party = Scottish Conservative Party
candidate = Alexander Stewart
votes = 9,990
percentage = 31.6
change = +0.7 Election box candidate with party link
party = Scottish Labour Party
candidate = Rob Ball
votes = 5,629
percentage = 17.8
change = -5.5 Election box candidate with party link
party = Scottish Liberal Democrats
candidate = Gordon Campbell
votes = 3,530
percentage = 11.2
change = +1.7 Election box candidate with party link
party = Scottish Socialist Party
candidate = Philip Stott
votes = 982
percentage = 3.1
change = +3.1 Election box candidate with party link
party = Independent (politician)
candidate = Thomas Burns
votes = 509
percentage = 1.6
change = +1.6 Election box candidate with party link
party = Scottish People's Alliance
candidate = Kenneth Buchanan
votes = 257
percentage = 0.8
change = +0.8 Election box majority
votes = 727
percentage = 2.3
change = -3.1Election box turnout
votes = 31,614
percentage = 51
change = Election box hold with party link
winner = Scottish National Party
loser =
swing = -2.4

Election box candidate with party link
party = Scottish National Party
candidate = Roseanna Cunningham
votes = 13,570
percentage = 36.3
change = N/A Election box candidate with party link
party = Scottish Conservative Party
candidate = Ian Stevenson
votes = 11,543
percentage = 30.9
change = N/A Election box candidate with party link
party = Scottish Labour Party
candidate = Jilian Richards
votes = 8,725
percentage = 23.3
change = N/A Election box candidate with party link
party = Scottish Liberal Democrats
candidate = Chic Brodie
votes = 3,558
percentage = 9.5
change = N/AElection box majority
votes = 2,027
percentage = 5.4
change = N/AElection box turnout
votes = 37,396
percentage = 60.6
change = Election box hold with party link
winner = Scottish National Party
loser = N/A
swing = N/A

Footnotes