Perthshire North

Perthshire North is a county constituency of the Scottish Parliament covering part of the council area of Perth and Kinross. 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.

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. 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. 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

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. 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:

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

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, although the seat continues to be formed of the same wards as at the first periodic review.

Member of the Scottish Parliament

Election results

2020s

2010s

Citations

Bibliography

• (PDF). Boundaries Scotland. April 2025.

See also

• Perth and North Perthshire (UK Parliament constituency)

External links

• (PDF). Boundaries Scotland.
• (PDF). Boundaries Scotland.