Perth and East Perthshire (UK Parliament constituency)
# Perth and East Perthshire (UK Parliament constituency)

Perth and East Perthshire was a county constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1950 to 1983. It elected one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election.

## Boundaries

The constituency was defined by the House of Commons (Redistribution of Seats) Act 1949 and first used in the 1950 general election. The boundaries were exactly those of the preceding Perth constituency, and it was one of two constituencies covering the county of Perth and the county of Kinross. The other was Kinross and West Perthshire.

The Perth and East Perthshire constituency was defined as covering 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.

1950 boundaries were used also for the general elections of 1951, 1955, 1959, 1964, 1966 and 1970.

For the February 1974 general election, the results of the Second Periodical Review of the Boundary Commission were implemented, and there was a minor change to the boundaries of Perth and East Perthshire. It was redefined as covering the burghs of Abernethy, Alyth, Blairgowrie and Rattray (now a single burgh), Coupar Angus, and Perth in the county of Perth, and the Eastern, and Perth districts of the county.

February 1974 boundaries were used also in the general elections of October 1974 and 1979.

In 1975, under the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973, counties and burghs throughout Scotland had been abolished in favour of regions and districts and islands council areas. The county of Kinross and most of the county of Perth had been merged into the Tayside region. The burghs of Callander, Doune, and Dunblane in the county of Perth, the Perth parish of Muckhart and the Western district of the county (except the electoral division of Ardoch) had been merged into the Central region.

New constituency boundaries, taking account of new local government boundaries, were adopted for the 1983 general election. Constituencies defined to cover the Tayside region included Perth and Kinross.

## Members of Parliament

| Election | Election | Member | Party | Notes |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| | 1950 | Sir Alan Gomme-Duncan | Unionist | previously MP for Perth |
| | 1959 | Ian MacArthur | Unionist |
| | Oct 1974 | Douglas Crawford | SNP |
| | 1979 | Bill Walker | Conservative |
| 1983 | 1983 | constituency abolished: see Perth and Kinross | constituency abolished: see Perth and Kinross | constituency abolished: see Perth and Kinross |

## Election results

### Elections in the 1950s

General election 1950: Perth and East Perthshire :

| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| | Unionist | Alan Gomme-Duncan | 24,850 | 56.1 | |
| | Labour | William Hughes | 11,706 | 26.4 | |
| | SNP | Donald Stewart | 4,118 | 9.3 | |
| | Liberal | John Lamont Wilson | 3,623 | 8.2 | |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 13,144 | 29.7 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 44,297 | 81.6 | |
| | Unionist win (new seat) | Unionist win (new seat) | Unionist win (new seat) | Unionist win (new seat) | Unionist win (new seat) |

General election 1951: Perth and East Perthshire :

| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| | Unionist | Alan Gomme-Duncan | 25,798 | 50.4 | -5.7 |
| | Labour | Neil McBride | 11,167 | 25.7 | -0.7 |
| | SNP | Robert McIntyre | 6,479 | 14.9 | +5.6 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 14,631 | 33.7 | +4.0 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 43,444 | | |
| | Unionist hold | Unionist hold | Swing | | |

General election 1955: Perth and East Perthshire :

| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| | Unionist | Alan Gomme-Duncan | 22,948 | 56.7 | +6.3 |
| | SNP | Robert McIntyre | 9,227 | 22.8 | +7.9 |
| | Labour | John B Urquhart | 8,313 | 20.5 | -5.2 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 13,721 | 33.9 | +0.2 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 40,488 | | |
| | Unionist hold | Unionist hold | Swing | | |

General election 1959: Perth and East Perthshire :

| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| | Unionist | Ian MacArthur | 24,217 | 58.2 | +1.5 |
| | SNP | Robert McIntyre | 9,637 | 23.1 | +0.3 |
| | Labour | Thomas W Moore | 7,781 | 18.7 | -1.8 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 14,580 | 35.1 | +1.2 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 41,635 | 75.6 | |
| | Unionist hold | Unionist hold | Swing | | |

### Elections in the 1960s

General election 1964: Perth and East Perthshire :

| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| | Unionist | Ian MacArthur | 23,912 | 57.9 | -0.3 |
| | Labour | Frederick L Forrester | 10,184 | 24.7 | +6.0 |
| | SNP | Robert McIntyre | 7,186 | 17.4 | -5.7 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 13,728 | 33.2 | -1.8 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 41,282 | 75.6 | 0.0 |
| | Unionist hold | Unionist hold | Swing | | |

General election 1966: Perth and East Perthshire :

| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| | Conservative | Ian MacArthur | 22,129 | 56.5 | -1.4 |
| | Labour | James Jennings | 10,911 | 27.9 | +3.2 |
| | SNP | Malcolm B Shaw | 6,128 | 15.6 | -1.8 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 11,218 | 28.6 | -4.6 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 39,168 | 72.3 | -3.3 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | -2.3 | |

### Elections in the 1970s

General election 1970: Perth and East Perthshire :

| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| | Conservative | Ian MacArthur | 21,860 | 52.1 | -4.4 |
| | Labour | Valerie A. Friel | 9,972 | 23.8 | -4.1 |
| | SNP | Duncan C. Murray | 7,112 | 17.0 | +1.4 |
| | Liberal | Richard Livsey | 3,011 | 7.2 | New |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 11,888 | 28.3 | -0.3 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 41,955 | 73.5 | +1.2 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | -0.2 | |

General election February 1974: Perth and East Perthshire :

| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| | Conservative | Ian MacArthur | 21,167 | 47.3 | −4.8 |
| | SNP | Douglas Crawford | 12,192 | 27.2 | +3.4 |
| | Labour | Valerie A. Friel | 6,784 | 15.2 | −8.6 |
| | Liberal | K. Smith | 4,644 | 10.4 | +3.2 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 8,975 | 20.1 | -8.2 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 44,787 | 78.3 | +4.8 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | | |

General election October 1974: Perth and East Perthshire :

| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| | SNP | Douglas Crawford | 17,337 | 40.8 | +13.6 |
| | Conservative | Ian MacArthur | 16,544 | 38.9 | −8.4 |
| | Labour | J. White | 5,805 | 13.7 | −1.5 |
| | Liberal | R. Duncan | 2,851 | 6.7 | −3.7 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 793 | 1.9 | N/A |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 42,537 | 73.8 | -4.5 |
| | SNP gain from Conservative | SNP gain from Conservative | Swing | +11.0 | |

General election 1979: Perth and East Perthshire :

| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| | Conservative | William Connoll Walker | 20,153 | 42.0 | +3.1 |
| | SNP | Douglas Crawford | 17,050 | 35.5 | −5.3 |
| | Labour | W.F. McKenzie | 6,432 | 13.4 | −0.3 |
| | Liberal | B. Goudie | 4,410 | 9.2 | +2.5 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 3,103 | 6.5 | N/A |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 48,045 | 77.3 | +3.5 |
| | Conservative gain from SNP | Conservative gain from SNP | Swing | +4.2 | |
