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 Proportional representation (PR) refers to a type of electoral system under which subgroups of an electorate are reflected proportionately in the elected body. The concept applies mainly to geographical (e.g. states, regions) and political divis ...

for the region as a whole.

Electoral region

The other eight constituencies of the mid Scotland and Fife Region are: Dunfermline East, Dunfermline West, Fife Central, Fife North East, Kirkcaldy, Ochil,

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth i ...

and

Stirling Stirling (; sco, Stirlin; gd, Sruighlea ) is a city in central Scotland, northeast of Glasgow and north-west of Edinburgh. The market town, surrounded by rich farmland, grew up connecting the royal citadel, the medieval old town with its me ...

. The region covers all of the

Clackmannanshire council area Clackmannanshire (; sco, Clackmannanshire; gd, Siorrachd Chlach Mhannainn) is a historic county, council area, registration county and Lieutenancy area in Scotland, bordering the council areas of Stirling, Fife, and Perth & Kinross and the h ...

, all of the Fife council area, all of the

Perth and Kinross council area Perth and Kinross ( sco, Pairth an Kinross; gd, Peairt agus Ceann Rois) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland and a Lieutenancy Area. It borders onto the Aberdeenshire, Angus, Argyll and Bute, Clackmannanshire, Dundee, Fife, Highland and ...

, all of the

Stirling council area The Stirling council area ( sco, Stirlin; gd, Sruighlea) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland, and has a population of about ( estimate). It was created under the Local Government etc (Scotland) Act 1994 with the boundaries of the Stirl ...

and parts of the

Angus council area Angus ( sco, Angus; gd, Aonghas) is one of the 32 local government council areas of Scotland, a registration county and a lieutenancy area. The council area borders Aberdeenshire, Dundee City and Perth and Kinross. Main industries include agri ...

Constituency boundaries and council areas

The constituency was created at the same time as the Scottish Parliament, in 1999, with the name and boundaries of a pre-existing

Westminster Westminster is an area of Central London, part of the wider City of Westminster. The area, which extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street, has many visitor attractions and historic landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, B ...

(

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. T ...

) constituency. In 2005, however, Scottish Westminster constituencies were generally replaced with new larger constituencies.Se
''The 5th Periodical Report of the Boundary Commission for Scotland''
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

and a northern portion of the

. The rest of the Perth and Kinross council area was covered by the Mid Scotland and Fife constituencies of

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

, and a south-eastern portion of the

. 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 City of Dundee council area.

Characteristics of the constituency

The constituency was a relatively prosperous, largely rural,

Lowland Upland and lowland are conditional descriptions of a plain based on elevation above sea level. In studies of the ecology of freshwater rivers, habitats are classified as upland or lowland. Definitions Upland and lowland are portions of p ...

seat, on the fringe of the

Highlands Highland is a broad term for areas of higher elevation, such as a mountain range or mountainous plateau. Highland, Highlands, or The Highlands, may also refer to: Places Albania * Dukagjin Highlands Armenia * Armenian Highlands Australia *Sou ...

, 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 Pitlochry (; gd, Baile Chloichridh or ) is a town in the Perth and Kinross council area of Scotland, lying on the River Tummel. It is historically in the county of Perthshire, and has a population of 2,776, according to the 2011 census.Scotlan ...

Forfar Forfar ( sco, Farfar, gd, Baile Fharfair) is the county town of Angus, Scotland and the administrative centre for Angus Council, with a new multi-million pound office complex located on the outskirts of the town. As of 2021, the town has a pop ...

and Blairgowrie. The south-western area, near the town of Perth, is the most populous.

Member of the Scottish Parliament

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 results

Footnotes

{{Scottish Parliament constituencies and regions 1999-2011 Scottish Parliament constituencies and regions 1999–2011 1999 establishments in Scotland Constituencies established in 1999 2011 disestablishments in Scotland Constituencies disestablished in 2011 Politics of Angus, Scotland Forfar Politics of Perth and Kinross Brechin Kirriemuir Coupar Angus Blairgowrie and Rattray Pitlochry