Perth (Scottish Parliament constituency)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Perth
Scottish Parliament county constituency
Perth shown within the
Mid Scotland and Fife electoral region and the region shown within Scotland
Created: 1999
MSP: Roseanna Cunningham
Party: Scottish National Party
Council area: 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.

Contents

[edit] 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.

[edit] 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[1]. 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.

[edit] 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.


[edit] Member of the Scottish Parliament

Election Member Party
1999 Roseanna Cunningham Scottish National Party
2003
2007

[edit] Election results

Scottish Parliament election, 2007: Perth
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Scottish National Party Roseanna Cunningham 13,751 39.4 +5.5
Conservative Elizabeth Smith 11,256 32.3 +0.7
Liberal Democrats Peter Barrett 4,767 13.7 +2.5
Labour Doug Maughan 4,513 13.0 -4.8
Free Scotland Party Jim Fairlie 575 1.6 +1.6
Majority 2,495 7.2
Turnout 34,862 56.2
Scottish National Party hold Swing +2.4
Scottish Parliament election, 2003: Perth
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Scottish National Party Roseanna Cunningham 10,717 33.9 -2.4
Conservative Alexander Stewart 9,990 31.6 +0.7
Labour Rob Ball 5,629 17.8 -5.5
Liberal Democrats Gordon Campbell 3,530 11.2 +1.7
Scottish Socialist Philip Stott 982 3.1 +3.1
Independent Thomas Burns 509 1.6 +1.6
Scottish People's Alliance Kenneth Buchanan 257 0.8 +0.8
Majority 727 2.3 -3.1
Turnout 31,614 51
Scottish National Party hold Swing -2.4
Scottish Parliament election, 1999: Perth
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Scottish National Party Roseanna Cunningham 13,570 36.3 N/A
Conservative Ian Stevenson 11,543 30.9 N/A
Labour Jilian Richards 8,725 23.3 N/A
Liberal Democrats Chic Brodie 3,558 9.5 N/A
Majority 2,027 5.4 N/A
Turnout 25,027
Scottish National Party hold Swing N/A

[edit] Footnotes

  1. ^ See The 5th Periodical Report of the Boundary Commission for Scotland


v • d • e
Electoral regions and Constituencies of the Scottish Parliament Flag of Scotland
Central Scotland
Glasgow
Highlands and Islands
Lothians
Mid Scotland and Fife
North East Scotland
South of Scotland
West of Scotland