Perthshire South and Kinross-shire (Scottish Parliament constituency)

Not to be confused with Perth and Kinross-shire (UK Parliament constituency).

Perthshire South and Kinross-shire 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 South and Kinross-shire
County constituency for the Scottish Parliament
Perthshire South and Kinross-shire shown within the Mid Scotland and Fife electoral region and the region shown within Scotland
Population	78,713 (2019)[1]
Current constituency
Created	2011
Party	Scottish National Party
MSP	Jim Fairlie
Council area	Perth and Kinross
Created from	Ochil, Perth

The seat has been held by Jim Fairlie of the Scottish National Party since the 2021 Scottish Parliament election.

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 North 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

The Perth and Kinross council area is represented in the Scottish Parliament by two constituencies, Perthshire North and Perthshire South and Kinross-shire, defined by the 2011 first periodical review of Scottish Parliament constituencies. Prior to this, Perth and Kinross was represented by three constituencies in the Scottish Parliament, which were used from the opening of the Parliament in 1999 until the 2011 Scottish Parliament election, these were: North Tayside, Perth and Ochil.

The electoral wards used in Perthshire South and Kinross-shire are:^[2]

• Strathearn
• Strathallan
• Kinross-shire
• Almond and Earn
• Perth City South
• Perth City North

Constituency profile

BBC profile:^[3]

This is a relatively prosperous, largely rural, lowland constituency on the fringe of the Highlands with successful livestock and fruit-growing sectors reliant on its good soil quality. The beautiful scenery also attracts tourism, and the constituency as a whole enjoys relatively low unemployment. A sizeable amount of the electorate lives in the city of Perth while other towns in the constituency include Auchterarder, Crieff, and Bridge of Earn. Kinross was added to the constituency in the border review of 2011. The Tories held Perth's predecessor seats at Westminster for most of the post-war period. But in the 1995 by-election, the SNP's Roseanna Cunningham won through and retained the seat at the 1997 General Election. She went on to be elected to Holyrood when the Scottish Parliament was formed in 1999, and was returned in 2003, 2007 and again in 2011.

The Perthshire South and Kinross-shire constituency covers the southern half of the Perth and Kinross council area, forming its northern boundaries with the Perthshire North constituency following the River Almond and the River Tay east of Perth. The seat covers a majority of the city of Perth to the north-east, covering the western side of the city from Dunkeld Road and the railway line.

Member of the Scottish Parliament

Election		Member	Party
	2011	Roseanna Cunningham	Scottish National Party
	2021	Jim Fairlie

Election results

Perthshire South & Kinross-shire election results 1999-2021

2020s

2021 Scottish Parliament election: Perthshire South and Kinross-shire^[4][5]

Party		Candidate	Constituency			Regional
			Votes	%	±%	Votes	%	±%
	SNP	Jim Fairlie	20,126	45.7	3.3	16,074	36.4	1.3
	Conservative	Liz Smith[a]	18,178	41.2	2.8	16,317	36.9	1.6
	Scottish Green					3,814	8.6	2.3
	Labour	Janine Rennie	2,943	6.7	2.7	3,575	8.1	1.3
	Liberal Democrats	Julia Brown	2,823	6.4	1.9	2,694	6.1	0.7
	Alba					669	1.5	New
	All for Unity					310	0.7	New
	Scottish Family					225	0.5	New
	Reform UK					142	0.3	New
	Abolish the Scottish Parliament					121	0.3	New
	Freedom Alliance (UK)					98	0.2	New
	Scottish Libertarian					53	0.1	0.1
	UKIP					50	0.1	1.7
	Independent	Martin Keatings				18	0.0	New
	Renew					13	0.0	New
	Independent	Mercy Kamanja				8	0.0	New
Majority			1,948	4.5	0.6
Valid Votes			44,070			44,181
Invalid Votes			147			84
Turnout			44,217	69.8	8.7	44,265	69.9	8.8
	SNP hold		Swing
Notes Incumbent member on the party list, or for another constituency

2010s

2016 Scottish Parliament election: Perthshire South and Kinross-shire^[4]

Party		Candidate	Constituency			Regional
			Votes	%	±%	Votes	%	±%
	SNP	Roseanna Cunningham[a]	15,315	42.4	9.1	13,668	37.7	10.0
	Conservative	Liz Smith[b]	13,893	38.4	9.9	13,966	38.5	13.4
	Labour	Scott Nicholson	3,389	9.4	3.3	3,429	9.4	3.1
	Liberal Democrats	Willie Robertson	3,008	8.3	1.1	1,949	5.4	0.5
	Scottish Green					2,264	6.3	1.5
	UKIP					635	1.8	0.7
	Independent politician	Craig Finlay	544	1.5	New
	RISE					123	0.3	New
	Solidarity					95	0.3	0.3
	Scottish Libertarian					70	0.2	New
Majority			1,422	3.9	19.1
Valid Votes			36,149			36,271
Invalid Votes			112			72
Turnout			36,261	61.1	7.2	36,271	61.1	7.2
	SNP hold		Swing
Notes Incumbent member for this constituency Incumbent member on the party list, or for another constituency

2011 Scottish Parliament election: Perthshire South and Kinross-shire^[6][7][a]

Party		Candidate	Constituency			Region
			Votes	%	±%	Votes	%	±%
	SNP	Roseanna Cunningham[b]	16,073	51.49	14.6	14,957	47.73	N/A
	Conservative	Liz Smith[c]	8,907	28.53	3.9	7,865	25.10	N/A
	Labour	Patricia Duncan	3,980	12.75	0.2	3,907	12.47	N/A
	Liberal Democrats	Willie Robertson	2,256	7.23	9.6	1,527	4.87	N/A
	Scottish Green					1,512	4.82	N/A
	Scottish Senior Citizens					522	1.67	N/A
	UKIP					349	1.11	N/A
	BNP					183	0.58	N/A
	Scottish Christian					107	0.34	N/A
	Socialist Labour					104	0.33	N/A
	Scottish Socialist					86	0.27	N/A
	CPA					75	0.24	N/A
	Independent	Andrew Roger				55	0.18	N/A
	Solidarity					14	0.04	N/A
Majority			7,166	23.0	N/A
Valid Votes			31,216			31,263
Invalid Votes			90			75
Turnout			31,603	53.9	N/A	31,338	53.9	N/A
	SNP win (new seat)
Notes Percentage change in constituency shown relative to notional result Incumbent member for the Perth constituency Incumbent member on the party list, or for another constituency

2000s: Notional Result

The following is the notional result for the 2007 Scottish Parliament election, as calculated by the BBC.^[8]

Scottish Parliament election, 2007 Notional Result: Perthshire South and Kinross-shire

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	SNP	N/A	11,431	36.9	N/A
	Conservative	N/A	10,047	32.4	N/A
	Liberal Democrats	N/A	5,211	16.8	N/A
	Labour	N/A	3,906	12.6	N/A
	Others	N/A	420	1.4	N/A
Majority			1,384	4.5	N/A
	SNP hold		Swing	N/A