North Tayside (Scottish Parliament constituency)

Region or constituency of the Scottish Parliament

Not to be confused with North Tayside (UK Parliament constituency).

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
Created| 1999
Abolished| 2011
Council area| Angus (part)
Perth and Kinross (part)
Replaced by| Angus North & Mearns,
Angus South,
Perthshire North

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.

## Electoral region

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See also: Mid Scotland and Fife (Scottish Parliament electoral region)

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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1. ^ See The 5th Periodical Report of the Boundary Commission for Scotland Archived 21 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine

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Electoral regions and constituencies of the Scottish Parliament (1999-2011) » 2011- »

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
* Na h-Eileanan an Iar
* Orkney
* Ross, Skye and Inverness West
* Shetland

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

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