Holyrood Election 2011: Scottish National Party sweep Perthshire elections

May 6 2011 By Katy Gordon

THE Scottish National Party swept the boards at Bell's Sports Centre last night, with both Roseanna Cunningham and John Swinney retaining their seats.

Voter turn-out for the Perthshire South and Kinross-shire constituency was 53.9 per cent (31,300), with the regional list at 58.95 per cent (31,342), while Perthshire North saw 56.3 per cent (30,073) of voters turn out for the constituency and 56.3 per cent (30,076) cast a regional vote.

The mood in Bell's Sports Centre started as one of optimism, but soon it became apparent that the Nats were going to rule the night. John Swinney was the first to be announced the winner, with an amazing 18,219 votes.

Speaking during his victory speech, he said: "Even in my most optimistic moments, I could never imagined a victory like this and it is a tribute to the enormous effort made to support the campaign.

"It looks very clear we have received a decisive endorsement from the people of Scotland and this is the opportunity to bring all aspects of the country together to make it more successful."

And Roseanna Cunningham garnered a whopping 16,073 votes.

The mood in Bell's Sports Centre started as one of optimism, but soon it became apparent that the Nats were going to rule the night.

Speaking during her victory speech, she said: "It has been an very overwhelming night and what has happened tonight reflects the much bigger story being told in Scotland tonight.

"People are fed up being told no, or what they can't do or who they shouldn't vote for.

"The Scottish National Party is truly the national party of Scotland and we want to take the country on to better things."

Nationally, the party picked up a large number of seats, including many considered "safe" by other parties, includin Labour stronghold Airdrie and Shotts.