North Tayside (Scottish Parliament constituency)

North Tayside was a constituency of the Scottish Parliament (Holyrood). It elected one Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) by the plurality (first past the post) method of election. Also, however, it was 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.

North Tayside
Former county constituency
for the Scottish Parliament
North Tayside shown within the Mid Scotland and Fife electoral region and the region shown within Scotland
Former constituency
Created1999
Abolished2011
Council areaAngus (part)
Perth and Kinross (part)
Replaced byAngus North & Mearns,
Angus South,
Perthshire North

Electoral region

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The other eight constituencies of the mid Scotland and Fife Region were: Dunfermline East, Dunfermline West, Fife Central, Fife North East, Kirkcaldy, Ochil, Perth 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, all of the Stirling council area and parts of the Angus council area.

Constituency boundaries and council areas

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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. In 2005, however, Scottish Westminster constituencies were generally replaced with new larger constituencies.[1] For representation at Westminster, the area of the Holyrood constituency is now divided between the Perth and North Perthshire Westminster constituency and the Angus Westminster constituency.

The Holyrood constituency of North Tayside covered a northern portion of the Perth and Kinross council area and a northern portion of the Angus council area.

The rest of the Perth and Kinross council area was covered by the Mid Scotland and Fife constituencies of Perth and Ochil and the North East Scotland constituency of Angus.

The rest of the Angus council area was covered by the Angus constituency.

The Perth constituency was entirely within the Perth and Kinross council area, south of the Tayside North constituency.

The Ochil constituency covered a south-eastern portion of the Perth and Kinross council area, the Clackmannanshire council area, and a south-eastern portion of the Stirling council area.

The Angus constituency covered a small eastern portion of the Perth and Kinross council, a southern portion of the Angus council area, and north-western and north-eastern portions of the Dundee City council area.

Characteristics of the constituency

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The constituency was a relatively prosperous, largely rural, Lowland seat, on the fringe of the Highlands, with successful livestock farming, fruit-growing and tourism interests, a combination of small towns and rich agricultural land, with relatively low unemployment. It included the towns of Pitlochry, Forfar and Blairgowrie. The south-western area, near the town of Perth, is the most populous.

Member of the Scottish Parliament

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John Swinney had represented the constituency for the SNP since the first Scottish election in 1999. He was the Cabinet Secretary for Finance, and was SNP leader from 2000 to 2004.

Election Member Party
1999 John Swinney Scottish National Party
2011 constituency abolished: replaced by Angus North & Mearns, Angus South, and Perthshire North

Election results

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2007 Scottish Parliament election: North Tayside
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
SNP John Swinney 18,281 51.6 +6.7
Conservative Murdo Fraser 10,697 30.2 −1.2
Labour Michael Marra 3,243 9.2 −1.4
Liberal Democrats James Taylor 3,175 9.0 −0.6
Majority 7,584 21.4 +7.9
Turnout 35.395 57.1 +3.9
SNP hold Swing +4.0
2003 Scottish Parliament election: North Tayside
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
SNP John Swinney 14,969 44.9 +0.8
Conservative Murdo Fraser 10,466 31.4 −1.7
Labour Gordon MacRae 3,527 10.6 −4.4
Liberal Democrats Bob Forrest 3,206 9.6 +1.9
Scottish Socialist Rosie Adams 941 2.8 New
Scottish People's George Ashe 234 0.7 New
Majority 4,503 13.5 +2.5
Turnout 33,343 53.2
SNP hold Swing +0.8
1999 Scottish Parliament election: North Tayside
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
SNP John Swinney 16,786 44.11 N/A
Conservative Murdo Fraser 12,594 33.09 N/A
Labour Marion Dingwall 5,727 15.05 N/A
Liberal Democrats Peter Regent 2,948 7.75 N/A
Majority 4,192 11.02 N/A
Turnout 38,055
SNP win (new seat)

Footnotes

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