Perth (UK Parliament constituency)

Not to be confused with Perth Burghs (UK Parliament constituency) or Perth (Scottish Parliament constituency).

Perth
Former County constituency for the House of Commons
Boundary of Perth in Scotlandfor the 2001 general election
Subdivisions of Scotland	Perth and Kinross
1997–2005
Seats	One
Created from	Perth and Kinross
Replaced by	Ochil & South Perthshire Perth & North Perthshire
1918–1950
Seats	One
Type of constituency	County constituency
Replaced by	Perth and East Perthshire
1832–1918
Seats	One
Type of constituency	Burgh constituency
Created from	Perthshire Perth Burghs

Perth was a constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1832 to 1918, 1918 to 1950, and 1997 to 2005. From 1832 to 1918 it was a burgh constituency. From 1918 to 1950, and 1997 to 2005, it was a county constituency. During each of the three periods it elected one Member of Parliament (MP).

Boundaries

Boundaries 1832 to 1918

As created by the Representation of the People (Scotland) Act 1832, and first used in the 1832 general election, the constituency included the burgh of Perth and was one of two constituencies covering the county of Perth. The other was the Perthshire constituency (except that five detached parishes of the county were within the Clackmannanshire and Kinross-shire constituency ^[1] ).

The boundaries of the constituency, as set out in the Representation of the People (Scotland) Act 1832, were-

"From the North-western Corner of the North Inch, on the Right Bank of the River Tay, in a straight Line to the Bridge on the Mill Lead at the Boot of Balhousie; thence in a straight Line to the Bridge on the Glasgow Road over the Scouring Burn; thence in a straight Line to the Southern Corner of the Water Reservoir of the Dept; thence in a straight Line to the Southern Corner of the Friarton Pier on the River Tay; thence across the River Tay (passing to the South of the Friarton Island) to the Point at which the same is met by the Boundary of the respective Parishes of Kinfauns and Kinnoul; thence, Northward, along the Boundary of the Parish of Kinfauns to the Point at which the several Boundaries of the Properties of Kinfauns, Kinnoul, and Barnhill meet; thence in a straight Line to the North-eastern Corner of Lord Kinnoul's Lodge, at the Gate of Approach to Kinnoul Hill; thence in a straight Line to the North-eastern Corner of the Enclosure of the Lunatic Asylum; thence in a straight Line to the Point at which the Annatty Burn crosses the Blairgowrie Road; thence down the Annatty Burn to the Point at which the same joins the River Tay; thence in a straight Line to the Point first described." ^[2]

Prior to the 1832 general election, the county (including the detached parishes) had been covered by the Perthshire constituency and Perth Burghs. Perth Burghs consisted of the burgh of Perth and burghs in the county of Fife and the county of Forfar.

The 1832 boundaries of the Perth constituency were used also in the general elections of 1835, 1837, 1841, 1847, 1852, 1857, 1859, 1865, 1868, 1874 and 1880.

The Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 divided the Perthshire constituency to create Eastern Perthshire and Western Perthshire. There was no change to the boundaries of the Perth constituency. ^[1] Therefore, the 1832 boundaries of the Perth constituency were used again in the general elections of 1885, 1886, 1892, 1895, 1900, 1906, January 1910 and December 1910.

Boundaries 1918 to 1950

By 1918 county boundaries had been redefined under the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1889 and, in creating new constituency boundaries, the Representation of the People Act 1918 took account of new local government boundaries. The Perth constituency became one of two county constituencies covering the county of Perth and the county of Kinross, and was first used as such in the 1918 general election. The other constituency was Kinross and West Perthshire.

The Perth constituency was defined as consisting of the burghs of Abernethy, Alyth, Blairgowrie, Coupar Angus, Perth, and Rattray in the county of Perth and the Blairgowrie and Perth districts of the county, ^[1] and the same boundaries were used for the general elections of 1922, 1923, 1924, 1929, 1931, 1935 and 1945.

For the 1950 general election the constituency was replaced by the Perth and East Perthshire constituency, which was defined by the House of Commons (Redistribution of Seats) Act 1949 to have exactly the same boundaries as the former Perth constituency. ^[1]

1997 to 2005

For the 1997 general election Perth was recreated, and was a constituency entirely within the Perth and Kinross council area, which had been established the year before, under the Local Government etc (Scotland) Act 1994. ^[3] The council area was otherwise covered by North Tayside to the north, which also covered part of the Angus council area, Angus to the east, which also covered part of the Angus council area and part of the Dundee City council area, and Ochil to the south, which also covered the Clackmannanshire council area and part of the Stirling council area.

The same boundaries were used for the 2001 general election.

For the 2005 general election, the Perth constituency was largely replaced by Ochil and South Perthshire, covering the Clackmannanshire council area and a southern portion of the Perth and Kinross council area. Perth and North Perthshire was created to cover the rest of the Perth and Kinross council area. ^[4]

Constituency profile

Main article: Perth (Scottish Parliament constituency) § Constituency profile

Members of Parliament

MPs 1832–1918

Election		Member [5] [6] [7]	Party
	1832	Laurence Oliphant	Whig [8]
	1837	Arthur Kinnaird	Whig [8] [9] [10] [11]
	1839 by-election	David Greig	Whig [8] [12] [13]
	1841	Hon. Fox Maule	Whig [8] [14] [15] [16] [17]
	1852 by-election	Arthur Kinnaird	Whig [8] [9] [10] [11]
	1859		Liberal
	1878 by-election	Charles Stuart Parker	Liberal
	1885		Independent Liberal
	1886		Liberal
	1892	William Whitelaw	Conservative
	1895	Robert Wallace	Liberal
	1907 by-election	Sir Robert Pullar	Liberal
	1910 (January)	Frederick Whyte	Liberal
	1918	constituency abolished

MPs 1918–1950

Election		Member [5] [18]	Party	Notes
	1918	William Young	Coalition Liberal	Previously MP for East Perthshire
	1922	Noel Skelton	Unionist
	1923	Robert Macgregor Mitchell	Liberal
	1924	Noel Skelton	Unionist	From 1931, MP for the Combined Scottish Universities
	1931	Mungo Murray	Unionist	Later 7th Earl of Mansfield and Mansfield
	1935 by-election	Francis Norie-Miller	National Liberal
	1935	Sir Thomas Hunter	Unionist
	1945	Alan Gomme-Duncan	Unionist	Subsequently, MP for Perth and East Perthshire
	1950	constituency abolished

MPs 1997–2005

Election		Member [5]	Party	Notes
	1997	Roseanna Cunningham	Scottish National Party	previously MP for Perth and Kinross
	2001	Annabelle Ewing	Scottish National Party	daughter of Winnie Ewing
	2005	constituency abolished

Election results

1832 to 1918

General Election 1832: Perth ^{[19] [8]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Whig	Laurence Oliphant	458	69.1
	Whig	Patrick Crichton-Stuart	205	30.9
Majority			253	38.2
Turnout			663	85.0
Registered electors			780
	Whig win (new seat)

General Election 1835: Perth ^{[19] [8]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Whig	Laurence Oliphant	Unopposed
Registered electors			874
	Whig hold

General Election 1837: Perth ^{[19] [8]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Whig	Arthur Kinnaird	355	65.4
	Conservative	Patrick Murray Threipland [20]	188	34.6
Majority			167	30.8
Turnout			543	60.3
Registered electors			900
	Whig hold

Kinnaird's resignation caused a by-election.

By-election, 19 August 1839: Perth ^{[19] [8]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	David Greig (MP)	9	100.0	N/A
	Whig	Laurence Oliphant	0	0.0	N/A
Majority			9	100.0	+69.2
Turnout			9	c. 1.0	c. −59.3
Registered electors			c. 900
	Whig hold		Swing	N/A

General Election 1841: Perth ^[19]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	Fox Maule	356	61.1	−4.3
	Conservative	William Fechney Black [21]	227	38.9	+4.3
Majority			129	22.2	−8.6
Turnout			583	53.9	−6.4
Registered electors			1,082
	Whig hold		Swing	−4.3

Maule was appointed Secretary at War, requiring a by-election.

By-election, 11 July 1846: Perth ^[19]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	Fox Maule	Unopposed
	Whig hold

General Election 1847: Perth ^[19]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	Fox Maule	Unopposed
Registered electors			1,030
	Whig hold

Maule was appointed President of the Board of Control, requiring a by-election.

By-election, 9 February 1852: Perth ^[19]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	Fox Maule	Unopposed
	Whig hold

Maule succeeded to the peerage, becoming Lord Panmure and causing a by-election.

By-election, 15 May 1852: Perth ^[19]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	Arthur Kinnaird	325	59.1	N/A
	Radical	Charles Gilpin	225	40.9	New
Majority			100	18.2	N/A
Turnout			550	53.2	N/A
Registered electors			1,034
	Whig hold		Swing	N/A

General election 1852: Perth ^[19]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	Arthur Kinnaird	Unopposed
Registered electors			1,034
	Whig hold

General election 1857: Perth ^[19]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	Arthur Kinnaird	Unopposed
Registered electors			947
	Whig hold

General election 1859: Perth ^[19]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Arthur Kinnaird	Unopposed
Registered electors			966
	Liberal hold

General election 1865: Perth ^[19]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Arthur Kinnaird	Unopposed
Registered electors			982
	Liberal hold

General election 1868: Perth ^{[19] [22]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Arthur Kinnaird	Unopposed
Registered electors			2,801
	Liberal hold

General election 1874: Perth ^[19]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Arthur Kinnaird	1,648	63.7	N/A
	Conservative	Charles Scott [23]	940	36.3	New
Majority			708	27.4	N/A
Turnout			2,588	67.0	N/A
Registered electors			3,863
	Liberal hold		Swing	N/A

Kinnaird succeeded to the peerage, becoming Lord Kinnaird.

By-election, 29 Jan 1878: Perth ^[19]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Charles Stuart Parker	2,206	72.1	+8.4
	Conservative	Alexander Mackie [24]	855	27.9	−8.4
Majority			1,351	44.2	+16.8
Turnout			3,061	72.5	+5.5
Registered electors			4,224
	Liberal hold		Swing	+8.4

General election 1880: Perth ^[19]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Charles Stuart Parker	2,315	74.9	+11.2
	Conservative	David Robertson Williamson [25]	774	25.1	−11.2
Majority			1,541	49.8	+22.4
Turnout			3,089	77.2	+10.2
Registered electors			4,000
	Liberal hold		Swing	+11.2

General election 1885: Perth ^{[26] [27]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent Liberal	Charles Stuart Parker	1,652	44.4	New
	Conservative	John Chisholm	1,099	29.6	+4.5
	Liberal	Alexander Macdougall junior	967	26.0	−48.9
Majority			553	14.8	N/A
Turnout			3,718	85.1	+7.9
Registered electors			4,369
	Independent Liberal gain from Liberal		Swing	N/A

General election 1886: Perth ^{[26] [27]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Charles Stuart Parker	1,573	58.4	+32.4
	Liberal Unionist	William Fowler	1,120	41.6	+12.0
Majority			453	16.8	N/A
Turnout			2,693	61.6	−23.5
Registered electors			4,369
	Liberal gain from Independent Liberal		Swing	N/A

General election 1892: Perth ^{[28] [27]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	William Whitelaw	1,398	40.2	−1.4
	Liberal	Charles Stuart Parker	1,171	33.7	−24.7
	Perth Liberal and Radical Association	James Woollen	907	26.1	New
Majority			227	6.5	N/A
Turnout			3,476	81.3	+19.7
Registered electors			4,274
	Conservative gain from Liberal		Swing	+11.7

General election 1895: Perth ^{[29] [27]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Robert Wallace	2,137	54.8	+21.1
	Conservative	William Whitelaw	1,763	45.2	+5.0
Majority			374	9.6	N/A
Turnout			3,900	87.5	+6.2
Registered electors			4,456
	Liberal gain from Conservative		Swing	+8.1

Wallace

General election 1900: Perth ^{[29] [27]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Robert Wallace	2,171	54.3	−0.5
	Conservative	William Whitelaw	1,827	45.7	+0.5
Majority			344	8.6	−1.0
Turnout			3,998	82.0	−5.5
Registered electors			4,873
	Liberal hold		Swing	−0.5

General election 1906: Perth ^{[30] [27]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Robert Wallace	2,875	60.6	+6.3
	Conservative	Samuel Chapman	1,867	39.4	−6.3
Majority			1,008	21.2	+12.6
Turnout			4,742	87.8	+5.8
Registered electors			5,398
	Liberal hold		Swing	+6.3

By-election, 1907 ^[27]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Robert Pullar	Unopposed
	Liberal hold

General election January 1910: Perth ^{[31] [27]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Frederick Whyte	2,841	57.5	−3.1
	Conservative	Samuel Chapman	2,103	42.5	+3.1
Majority			738	15.0	−6.2
Turnout			4,944	91.0	+3.2
Registered electors			5,433
	Liberal hold		Swing	−3.1

General election December 1910: Perth ^{[31] [27]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Frederick Whyte	2,852	60.3	+2.8
	Conservative	Charles Telfer-Smollett	1,878	39.7	−2.8
Majority			974	20.6	+5.6
Turnout			4,730	85.8	−5.2
Registered electors			5,514
	Liberal hold		Swing	+2.8

1918 to 1950

William Young

General election 1918: Perth ^[32]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
C	Liberal	William Young	Unopposed
	Liberal hold
Cindicates candidate endorsed by the coalition government.

General election 1922: Perth ^{[33] [34]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Noel Skelton	11,387	46.3	New
	Liberal	William Henderson	5,874	23.9	N/A
	Labour	William Westwood	4,651	18.9	New
	National Liberal	William Robert Gourlay	2,689	10.9	New
Majority			5,513	22.4	N/A
Turnout			24,601	71.1	N/A
Registered electors			34,590
	Unionist gain from Liberal		Swing	N/A

General election 1923: Perth ^[35]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Robert MacGregor Mitchell	12,655	53.2	+29.3
	Unionist	Noel Skelton	11,134	46.8	+0.5
Majority			1,521	6.4	N/A
Turnout			23,789	68.7	−2.4
Registered electors			34,635
	Liberal gain from Unionist		Swing	+14.4

General election 1924: Perth ^[36]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Noel Skelton	13,022	49.4	+2.6
	Liberal	Robert MacGregor Mitchell	7,998	30.4	−22.8
	Labour	Cameron Roberts	5,316	20.2	New
Majority			5,024	19.0	N/A
Turnout			26,336	75.3	+6.6
Registered electors			34,992
	Unionist gain from Liberal		Swing	+12.7

General election 1929: Perth ^[36]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Noel Skelton	14,229	40.4	−9.0
	Liberal	Francis Norie-Miller	12,699	36.1	+5.7
	Labour	Helen E Gault	8,291	23.5	+3.3
Majority			1,530	4.3	−14.7
Turnout			35,219	76.7	+1.4
Registered electors			45,923
	Unionist hold		Swing	−7.4

1930s

General election 1931: Perth ^[37]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Mungo Murray	19,254	50.2	+9.8
	Liberal	Francis Norie-Miller	15,396	40.1	+4.0
	Labour	Helen E Gault	3,705	9.7	−14.2
Majority			3,858	10.1	+5.8
Turnout			38,355	81.4	+4.7
	Unionist hold		Swing

1935 Perth by-election ^[38]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	National Liberal	Francis Norie-Miller	17,516	68.7	New
	Labour	Adam McKinlay	7,984	31.3	+21.6
Majority			9,532	37.4	N/A
Turnout			25,500
	National Liberal gain from Unionist		Swing

General election 1935: Perth ^[39]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Thomas Hunter	23,011	73.7	+25.5
	Labour	Robert Gunn	8,209	26.3	+16.6
Majority			14,802	47.4	+37.3
Turnout			31,220	64.1	−17.3
	Unionist gain from National Liberal		Swing

1940s

General election 1945: Perth

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Alan Gomme-Duncan	22,484	63.1	−10.6
	Labour	William Hughes	11,617	32.6	+6.3
	SNP	James Blair Brown	1,547	4.3	New
Majority			10,867	30.5	−16.9
Turnout			35,648	65.7	+1.6
	Unionist hold		Swing	-8.5

1997 to 2005

General election 1997: Perth ^{[40] [41]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	SNP	Roseanna Cunningham	16,209	36.4
	Conservative	John Godfrey	13,068	29.3
	Labour	Douglas Alexander	11,036	24.8
	Liberal Democrats	Chic Brodie	3,583	8.0
	Referendum	Robert McAuley	366	0.8
	UKIP	Matthew Henderson	289	0.6
Majority			3,141	7.1
Turnout			44,551	73.9
	SNP win (new seat)

General election 2001: Perth ^[42]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	SNP	Annabelle Ewing	11,237	29.7	−6.7
	Conservative	Liz Smith	11,189	29.6	+0.3
	Labour	Marion Dingwall	9,638	25.5	+0.7
	Liberal Democrats	Vicki Harris	4,853	12.8	+4.8
	Scottish Socialist	Frank Byrne	899	2.4	New
Majority			48	0.1	−7.0
Turnout			37,816	61.5	−12.4
	SNP hold		Swing	-7.0

Notes and references

1. Boundaries of Parliamentary Constituencies 1885-1972 ( ISBN   0-900178-09-4), F. W. S. Craig 1972
2. Representation of the People (Scotland) Act 1832, Schedule (M).
3. Local Government etc (Scotland) Act 1994, Office of Public Sector Information website
4. "Fifth Periodical Review". Boundary Commission for Scotland . Archived from the original on 9 October 2007.
5. Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "P" (part 1)
6. Craig, FWS (1989) [1977]. British parliamentary election results 1832–1885 (2nd ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. pp. 558–559. ISBN   0-900178-26-4.
7. Craig, FWS (1989) [1974]. British parliamentary election results 1885–1918 (2nd ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. p. 518. ISBN   0-900178-27-2.
8. Smith, Henry Stooks (1842). The Register of Parliamentary Contested Elections (Second ed.). Simpkin, Marshall & Company. p. 209.
9. Churton, Edward (1838). The Assembled Commons or Parliamentary Biographer: 1838. p. 137.
10. Crosby, Travis L. (1997). The Two Mr. Gladstones: A Study in Psychology and History. New Haven: Yale University Press. p. 163. ISBN   0-300-06827-1.
11. "Perthshire Courier" . 3 August 1837. p. 3. Retrieved 3 September 2018– via British Newspaper Archive.
12. "Perth City Election" . The Pilot. 21 August 1839. p. 2. Retrieved 17 August 2019– via British Newspaper Archive.
13. "Carlisle Patriot" . 24 August 1839. p. 3. Retrieved 17 August 2019– via British Newspaper Archive.
14. "The Late Whig Election Dinner" . Perthshire Courier. 22 July 1841. p. 3. Retrieved 3 September 2018– via British Newspaper Archive.
15. "Perthshire Courier" . 24 June 1841. p. 3. Retrieved 3 September 2018– via British Newspaper Archive.
16. Beckett, Ian F. W.; Gooch, John, eds. (1981). Politicians and defence: Studies in the Formulation of British Defence Policy. Manchester: Manchester University Press. p. 178. ISBN   0-7190-0818-2.
17. Waugh, Alexander Sandy (Autumn 2009). "United Kingdom general election, 1841" (PDF). Journal of Liberal History. 64: 43. Retrieved 3 September 2018.
18. Craig, FWS (1983) [1969]. British parliamentary election results 1918–1949 (3rd ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. p. 643. ISBN   0-900178-06-X.
19. Craig, F. W. S., ed. (1977). British Parliamentary Election Results 1832-1885 (e-book) (1st ed.). London: Macmillan Press. ISBN   978-1-349-02349-3.
20. "City Election" . Perthshire Courier. 20 July 1837. p. 1. Retrieved 7 May 2020– via British Newspaper Archive.
21. "City of Perth" . Inverness Courier. 7 July 1841. p. 2. Retrieved 17 August 2019– via British Newspaper Archive.
22. Debrett's House of Commons, 1870
23. "Representation of Perth" . Dundee Courier . 31 January 1874. p. 3. Retrieved 15 January 2018– via British Newspaper Archive.
24. "The Representation of Perth: The Candidature of Mr Alexander Mackie" . Dundee Courier . 14 January 1878. p. 7. Retrieved 15 January 2018– via British Newspaper Archive.
25. "Nominations" . Dundee Courier . 2 April 1880. p. 6. Retrieved 9 December 2017– via British Newspaper Archive.
26. Debrett's House of Commons and Judicial Bench 1889
27. Craig, FWS, ed. (1974). British Parliamentary Election Results: 1885-1918. London: Macmillan Press. ISBN   9781349022984.
28. Whitaker's Almanack 1893
29. Debrett's House of Commons and the Judicial Bench, 1901
30. Whitaker's Almanack 1907
31. Debrett's House of Commons and Judicial Bench 1916
32. Whitaker's Almanack 1920
33. The Times, 17 November 1922
34. British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, FWS Craig
35. The Times, 8 December 1923
36. Oliver & Boyd's Edinburgh Almanac, 1927
37. Whitaker's Almanack, 1934
38. The Times, 18 April 1935
39. Whitaker's Almanack, 1939
40. "Election Data 1997". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 28 June 2017.
41. VOTE 2001, BBC
42. "Election Data 2001". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 28 June 2017.