Ochil and South Perthshire is a county constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first-past-the-post system of election.
| Ochil and South Perthshire | |
|---|---|
| County constituency for the House of Commons | |
 Boundary of Ochil and South Perthshire in Scotland | |
| Subdivisions of Scotland | Clackmannanshire/Perth and Kinross |
| Major settlements | Alloa, Auchterarder, Tullibody, Blackford |
| Current constituency | |
| Created | 2005 |
| Member of Parliament | John Nicolson (SNP) |
| Created from | Ochil and Perth |
The constituency was created for the 2005 general election as a result of the Fifth Review of the Boundary Commission for Scotland.[1] It has been represented since 2019 by John Nicolson of the Scottish National Party (SNP).
The seat is due to be abolished for the next general election.[2]
Boundaries edit
The constituency is composed of the Clackmannanshire council area (all five wards), and the Perth and Kinross council wards of Strathtay, Strathearn, Strathallan, Almond and Earn, and Kinross-shire.[3]
The constituency was created to cover Clackmannanshire and a southern portion of Perth and Kinross; the Perth and North Perthshire constituency was created at the same time to cover the rest of the Perth and Kinross council area.
Prior to the 2005 election, the council areas had been covered by the Angus, Ochil, Perth and North Tayside constituencies. The Perth constituency was entirely within the Perth and Kinross council area, the North Tayside constituency covered a northern portion of Perth and Kinross and a northern portion of the Angus council area, the Angus constituency covered a small southeastern portion of Perth and Kinross, a southern portion of Angus and northern portions of the Dundee City council area, and the Ochil constituency covered another southeastern portion of the Perth and Kinross, the whole of Clackmannanshire and a southeastern portion of the Stirling council area.
Constituency profile and voting patterns edit
Constituency profile edit
The Ochil and South Perthshire constituency covers the rural south of the Perth and Kinross council area south of the River Tay, running down through the Ochil Hills into the more industrial Clackmannanshire council area to the south. It is an affluent constituency. Agriculture and tourism form an important part of the local economy in the north of the constituency in southern Perth and Kinross-shire, housing affluent resort towns such as Auchterarder, Crieff and Kinross. Clackmannanshire is better known for its light industry and breweries dotted along the course of the River Forth and its northern tributary streams.
Voting patterns edit
The Ochil and South Perthshire constituency was formed from elements of the old Ochil and Perth constituencies. Perth was traditionally a strong area of support for the Conservative Party until the party's wipeout in Scotland at the 1997 general election, from then onwards; the area usually voted SNP. Ochil covered the counties of Kinross-shire and Clackmannanshire, alongside some of the more industrialised parts of Stirlingshire, traditionally an SNP-Labour marginal. When Ochil and South Perthshire was first formed, it was thought of as an SNP-Labour marginal; however, the SNP failed to win the constituency when it was created in 2005, and at the subsequent general election in 2010. Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh gained the seat from Gordon Banks of the Labour Party in a landslide victory across Scotland at the 2015 general election as they won 56 of Scotland's 59 parliamentary seats. At the 2017 general election, Ahmed-Sheikh lost the constituency to Luke Graham of the Conservative Party, and in 2019, Graham lost the seat to John Nicolson, former SNP MP for East Dunbartonshire.
At the 2017 local election, all wards in southern Perth and Kinross-shire voted Conservative by a good margin. The result in Clackmannanshire was mixed, with the SNP forming the largest party across the county as a whole but missing out to the Conservatives in Dollar to the north-east of the council area and missing out to Labour in northern Alloa. The Conservatives came first across Ochil and South Perthshire on the whole, with the SNP in second place.
Proposed abolition edit
Further to the completion of the 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies, the seat will be abolished for the next general election, with its contents to be distributed to five new constituencies:[2]
- The bulk of Clackmannanshire, including the town of Alloa, to Alloa and Grangemouth
- Strathearn, Almond and Earn and Kinross-shire to Perth and Kinross-shire
- Strathallan to Stirling and Strathallan
- The small town of Dollar to Dunfermline and Dollar
- A small rural area in the north to Angus and Perthshire Glens
Members of Parliament edit
| Election | Member[4] | Party | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | Gordon Banks | Labour | |
| 2015 | Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh | Scottish National Party | |
| 2017 | Luke Graham | Conservative | |
| 2019 | John Nicolson | Scottish National Party | |
Elections edit
Elections in the 2010s edit
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SNP | John Nicolson | 26,882 | 46.5 | +11.2 | |
| Conservative | Luke Graham | 22,384 | 38.7 | -2.8 | |
| Labour | Lorna Robertson | 4,961 | 8.6 | -11.4 | |
| Liberal Democrats | Iliyan Stefanov | 3,204 | 5.5 | +2.3 | |
| UKIP | Stuart Martin | 382 | 0.7 | New | |
| Majority | 4,498 | 7.8 | N/A | ||
| Turnout | 57,813 | 73.4 | +2.8 | ||
| SNP gain from Conservative | Swing | +7.0 | |||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Conservative | Luke Graham | 22,469 | 41.5 |  20.8
| |
| SNP | Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh | 19,110 | 35.3 |  10.7
| |
| Labour | Joanne Ross | 10,847 | 20.0 | 8.4
| |
| Liberal Democrats | Iliyan Stefanov | 1,742 | 3.2 | 0.6
| |
| Majority | 3,359 | 6.2 | N/A | ||
| Turnout | 54,168 | 70.6 | 4.2
| ||
| Conservative gain from SNP | Swing | 15.8
|
|||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SNP | Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh | 26,620 | 46.0 | +18.4 | |
| Labour | Gordon Banks | 16,452 | 28.4 | -9.5 | |
| Conservative | Luke Graham | 11,987 | 20.7 | +0.2 | |
| Liberal Democrats | Iliyan Stefanov | 1,481 | 2.6 | -8.8 | |
| UKIP | Martin Gray | 1,331 | 2.3 | +0.9 | |
| Majority | 10,168 | 17.6 | N/A | ||
| Turnout | 57,871 | 74.8 | +7.6 | ||
| SNP gain from Labour | Swing | +13.9 | |||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Labour | Gordon Banks | 19,131 | 37.9 | +6.5 | |
| SNP | Annabelle Ewing | 13,944 | 27.6 | -2.3 | |
| Conservative | Gerald Michaluk | 10,342 | 20.5 | -1.0 | |
| Liberal Democrats | Graeme Littlejohn | 5,754 | 11.4 | -1.9 | |
| UKIP | David Bushby | 689 | 1.4 | +0.8 | |
| Scottish Green | Hilary Charles | 609 | 1.2 | -0.9 | |
| Majority | 5,187 | 10.3 | +8.8 | ||
| Turnout | 50,469 | 67.2 | +1.2 | ||
| Labour hold | Swing | +4.4 | |||
Elections in the 2000s edit
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Labour | Gordon Banks | 14,645 | 31.4 | −2.0 | |
| SNP | Annabelle Ewing | 13,957 | 29.9 | −1.7 | |
| Conservative | Liz Smith | 10,021 | 21.5 | −0.6 | |
| Liberal Democrats | Catherine Whittingham | 6,218 | 13.3 | +2.8 | |
| Scottish Green | George Baxter | 978 | 2.1 | New | |
| Scottish Socialist | Iain Campbell | 420 | 0.9 | −0.9 | |
| UKIP | David Bushby | 275 | 0.6 | New | |
| Free Scotland Party | Maitland Kelly | 183 | 0.4 | New | |
| Majority | 688 | 1.5 | -0.3 | ||
| Turnout | 46,697 | 66.0 | +3.6 | ||
| Labour hold | Swing | −0.2 | |||
References edit
- ^ "Boundary Commission for Scotland website". Archived from the original on 21 September 2007.
- ^ a b Boundary Commission Scotland 2023 Review Report
- ^ "Seat Details". www.electoralcalculus.co.uk. Archived from the original on 27 June 2018. Retrieved 24 June 2017.
- ^ Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "O"
- ^ "UK Parliamentary election: Ochil and South Perthshire constituency". Clackmannanshire Council. Clackmannanshire Council. Retrieved 16 November 2019.
- ^ "Ochil & South Perthshire parliamentary constituency - Election 2019". Retrieved 15 December 2019.
- ^ "Commons Briefing Paper 8749. General Election 2019: results and analysis" (PDF). London: House of Commons Library. 28 January 2020. Archived (PDF) from the original on 18 November 2021. Retrieved 19 January 2022.
- ^ "General Election: SNP reselects 54 MPs". www.scotsman.com.
- ^ "General Election 2017 Candidates". www.scottishlabour.org.uk. Archived from the original on 8 May 2017. Retrieved 3 May 2017.
- ^ "Lee Scott back for Ilford North. Vicky Ford in final Chelmsford three. Tatton finalists named. The latest candidate selections and shortlists. - Conservative Home".
- ^ "Commons Briefing Paper 7979. General Election 2017: results and analysis" (PDF) (Second ed.). House of Commons Library. 29 January 2019 [7 April 2018]. Archived (PDF) from the original on 12 November 2019.
- ^ "Election Data 2015". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
- ^ Council, Depute Returning Officer, Clackmannanshire. "Westminster Parliament election - 2015-05-07". www.clacks.gov.uk.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ "UK Polling Report". ukpollingreport.co.uk.
- ^ "Election Data 2010". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 26 July 2013. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
- ^ "Election Data 2005". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
- ^ "Election 2005; Result: Ochil and South Perthshire". BBC News. British Broadcasting Corporation. 6 May 2005. Retrieved 26 July 2008.