Perthshire North
| 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 | |
| Electorate | 59,944 (2022)[1] |
| Current constituency | |
| Created | 2011 |
| Party | Scottish National Party |
| MSP | John Swinney |
| Council area | Perth and Kinross |
| Created from | North Tayside, Perth |
Perthshire North is a county constituency of the Scottish Parliament covering part of the council area of Perth and Kinross.[2] Under the additional-member electoral system used for elections to the Scottish Parliament, it elects one Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) by the plurality (first past the post) method of election. It is also 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.[3]
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.[4] Since first created it has been held by John Swinney of the Scottish National Party, who was previously the member for North Tayside. Swinney has been First Minister of Scotland since May 2024.
Electoral region
The other eight constituencies of the Mid Scotland and Fife region are: Clackmannanshire and Dunblane, Cowdenbeath, Dunfermline, Fife North East, Kirkcaldy, Mid Fife and Glenrothes, Perthshire South and Kinross-shire and Stirling.[3] 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.[5]
Constituency boundaries and council area
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 House of Commons constituencies, and consequently Perth and Kinross was spread across four constituencies: Angus, North Tayside, Ochil and Perth. Ahead of the 2005 United Kingdom general election UK and Scottish parliamentary constituencies were separated, and there is no longer any link between the two sets of boundaries.[6] Scottish Parliament constituencies were reviewed ahead of the 2011 Scottish Parliament election by the first periodic review of Scottish Parliament boundaries, 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. Much of the north of the constituency forms part of the Cairngorms National Park. The electoral wards of Perth and Kinross Council used in the formation of Perthshire North are listed below:[7]
At the second periodic review of Scottish Parliament boundaries in 2025 the seat boundaries were ammended very slightly to reflect changes in the boundaries of the above wards,[8][9] although the seat continues to be formed of the same wards as at the first periodic review.[2]
Member of the Scottish Parliament
| Election | Member | Party | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | John Swinney[a] | Scottish National Party | |
- ^ Incumbent for North Tayside constituency since 1999.
Election results

2020s
| Party | Candidate | Constituency | Regional | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Votes | % | ±% | Votes | % | ±% | |||
| SNP | John Swinney[a] | 19,860 | 49.5 | 16,090 | 40.1 | |||
| Conservative | Murdo Fraser[b] | 15,807 | 39.4 | 14,670 | 36.5 | |||
| Green | 3,241 | 8.1 | ||||||
| Labour | Ryan Smart | 2,324 | 5.8 | 2,838 | 7.1 | |||
| Liberal Democrats | Peter Barrett | 1,802 | 4.5 | 1,728 | 4.3 | |||
| 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 | 111 | 0.3 | New | |||||
| Abolish the Scottish Parliament | 105 | 0.3 | New | |||||
| Freedom Alliance (UK) | 96 | 0.2 | New | |||||
| Scottish Libertarian | 51 | 0.1 | ||||||
| UKIP | 34 | 0.1 | ||||||
| Independent | Martin Keatings | 25 | 0.1 | New | ||||
| Renew | 8 | 0.0 | New | |||||
| Independent | Mercy Kamanja | 4 | 0.0 | New | ||||
| Majority | 4,053 | 10.1 | ||||||
| Valid Votes | 40,127 | 40,159 | ||||||
| Invalid Votes | 141 | 73 | ||||||
| Turnout | 40,268 | 69.9 | 40,232 | 69.9 | ||||
| SNP hold | Swing | |||||||
Notes
| ||||||||
2010s
| Party | Candidate | Constituency | Regional | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Votes | % | ±% | Votes | % | ±% | |||
| SNP | John Swinney[a] | 16,526 | 48.6 | 14,218 | 41.7 | |||
| Conservative | Murdo Fraser[b] | 13,190 | 38.8 | 13,038 | 38.2 | |||
| Labour | Anna McEwan | 2,604 | 7.7 | 2,599 | 7.6 | |||
| Green | 2,045 | 6.0 | ||||||
| Liberal Democrats | Peter Barrett | 1,705 | 5.0 | 1,336 | 3.9 | |||
| UKIP | 634 | 1.9 | ||||||
| RISE | 104 | 0.3 | New | |||||
| Solidarity | 78 | 0.2 | ||||||
| Scottish Libertarian | 60 | 0.2 | New | |||||
| Majority | 3,336 | 9.8 | ||||||
| Valid Votes | 34,025 | 34,112 | ||||||
| Invalid Votes | 112 | 59 | ||||||
| Turnout | 34,137 | 63.0 | 34,171 | 63.0 | ||||
| SNP hold | Swing | |||||||
Notes
| ||||||||
| 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 | |
| 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
| ||||||||
References
Citations
- ^ Second Review of Scottish Parliament Boundaries: Report to Scottish Ministers, p 27.
- ^ a b Second Review of Scottish Parliament Boundaries: Report to Scottish Ministers, p 142.
- ^ a b Second Review of Scottish Parliament Boundaries: Report to Scottish Ministers, p 28.
- ^ "The New Scottish Parliament Constituencies 2011" (PDF). BBC News online. 8 September 2010. p. 25. Retrieved 24 November 2021.
- ^ Second Review of Scottish Parliament Boundaries: Report to Scottish Ministers, p 143.
- ^ "The 5th Periodical Report of the Boundary Commission for Scotland" (PDF). Boundary Commission for Scotland. December 2004. Retrieved 15 July 2021.
- ^ "First Periodic Review of Scottish Parliament Boundaries Final Report" (PDF). Boundaries Scotland. May 2010. p. 160. Retrieved 7 July 2021.
- ^ Second Review of Scottish Parliament Boundaries: Report to Scottish Ministers, p 108-111.
- ^ Second Review of Scottish Parliament Boundaries: Report to Scottish Ministers, p 125-127.
- ^ "Constituencies A-Z: Perthshire North". BBC News. Retrieved 7 May 2021.
- ^ a b "Scottish Parliamentary election results". Retrieved 15 July 2021.
- ^ "Results and turnout at the 2011 Scottish Parliament election". Electoral Commission. Retrieved 3 June 2021.
- ^ "2011 Election analysis (Excel 2.37MB)". Scottish Parliament. Retrieved 23 June 2021.
Bibliography
- "Second Review of Scottish Parliament Boundaries: Report to Scottish Ministers" (PDF). Boundaries Scotland. April 2025. Retrieved 26 November 2025.
See also
External links
- "Perthshire North constituency map (2025 review)" (PDF). Boundaries Scotland. Retrieved 16 December 2025.
- "Perthshire North constituency map (2011 review)" (PDF). Boundaries Scotland. Retrieved 14 July 2021.
