Perthshire North (Scottish Parliament constituency)

Not to be confused with Perth and North Perthshire (UK 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
Population	72,577 (2019)[1]
Current constituency
Created	2011
Party	Scottish National Party
MSP	John Swinney
Council area	Perth and Kinross
Created from	North 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

See also: Mid Scotland and Fife (Scottish Parliament electoral region)

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

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]

• Carse of Gowrie
• Strathmore
• Blairgowrie and Glens
• Highland
• Strathtay
• Perth City Centre

Member of the Scottish Parliament

Election		Member	Party
	2011	John Swinney[a]	Scottish National Party

1. Incumbent for North Tayside constituency since 1999.

Election results

Perthshire North election results 1999-2021

2020s

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 Incumbent member for this constituency Incumbent member on the party list, or for another constituency

2010s

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 Incumbent member for this constituency 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 Incumbent member for the North Tayside constituency Incumbent member on the party list, or for another constituency