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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 1 Electoral region 2 Constituency boundaries and council area 3 Description of the constituency 4 Member of the Scottish Parliamemt 5 Election results 6 Footnotes

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.

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.

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.

Election		Member	Party
	1999	Roseanna Cunningham	Scottish National Party
	2003
	2007

Scottish Parliament election, 2007: Perth
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Scottish National Party	Roseanna Cunningham	13,751	39.4	+5.5
	Conservative Party	Elizabeth Smith	11,256	32.3	+0.7
	Liberal Democrats	Peter Barrett	4,767	13.7	+2.5
	Labour Party	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 Party	Alexander Stewart	9,990	31.6	+0.7
	Labour Party	Rob Ball	5,629	17.8	-5.5
	Liberal Democrats	Gordon Campbell	3,530	11.2	+1.7
	Scottish Socialist Party	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 Party	Ian Stevenson	11,543	30.9	N/A
	Labour Party	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

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

v • d • e Electoral regions and Constituencies of the Scottish Parliament
Central Scotland	Airdrie and Shotts · Coatbridge and Chryston · Cumbernauld and Kilsyth · East Kilbride · Falkirk East · Falkirk West · Hamilton North and Bellshill · Hamilton South · Kilmarnock and Loudoun · Motherwell and Wishaw
Glasgow	Glasgow Anniesland · Glasgow Baillieston · Glasgow Cathcart · Glasgow Govan · Glasgow Kelvin · Glasgow Maryhill · Glasgow Pollok · Glasgow Rutherglen · Glasgow Shettleston · Glasgow Springburn
Highlands and Islands	Argyll and Bute · Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross · Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber · Moray · Orkney · Ross, Skye and Inverness West · Shetland · Western Isles
Lothians	Edinburgh Central · Edinburgh East and Musselburgh · Edinburgh North and Leith · Edinburgh Pentlands · Edinburgh South · Edinburgh West · Linlithgow · Livingston · Midlothian
Mid Scotland and Fife	Central Fife  · Dunfermline East · Dunfermline West · Kirkcaldy · North East Fife · North Tayside · Ochil · Perth · Stirling
North East Scotland	Aberdeen Central · Aberdeen North · Aberdeen South · Angus · Banff and Buchan · Dundee East · Dundee West · Gordon · West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine
South of Scotland	Ayr · Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley · Clydesdale · Cunninghame South · Dumfries · East Lothian · Galloway and Upper Nithsdale · Roxburgh and Berwickshire · Tweeddale, Ettrick and Lauderdale
West of Scotland	Clydebank and Milngavie · Cunninghame North · Dumbarton · Eastwood · Greenock and Inverclyde · Paisley North · Paisley South · Strathkelvin and Bearsden · West Renfrewshire