Voters in Perthshire have called for Britain to remain in the EU after a busy day at the polls.
For an area which hasn’t exactly been a hive of referendum activity, Perth and Kinross boasted one of the biggest turn-outs in Scotland with almost three-quarters of the electorate – 73.75% – stepping out to vote.
Of the 81,296 votes cast, 49,641 were for Remain (61%) with 31,614 for Brexit.
Sealed ballot boxes were brought from across the region to the Bells Sports Centre in Perth for counting and the vote was declared just after 2.40am.
Depute First Minister John Swinney, who is MSP for Perthshire North, said: “I’m delighted to see such strong support for Remain here in Perth and Kinross.
“This is being reflected across the whole of Scotland. We will have to wait to see how this plays out across the rest of the country.”
Local MP Pete Wishart added: “It’s great to see such a huge turn out from Perth and Kinross. There has been a great enthusiasm from people here to get involved in this conversation.
“We are entering very interesting times and I think the House of Commons will seem a very different place when I return there next week.”
Across Perth and Kinross-shire, there wasn’t a noticeable amount of campaigning for either side in the run-up to Thursday’s vote.
The Remain side fired an opening shot back in May with a debate in Perth’s Dewars Centre featuring political heavyweight Lord Menzies Campbell.
The talks were chaired by Andrew Dundas, of the Perth Civic Trust. He said: “Being in the EU is a critical issue for both Scotland as a whole and for Perth.
“The Scotch Whisky Association recognises both the existing and growing value of the EU markets and the huge potential there is still to be gained for our iconic brands in Europe.”
The area’s newest MSP Alexander Stewart voted in favour of leaving the EU in a recent Holyrood debate.
He said a Brexit would give Holyrood greater control over many devolved policy areas.
“A vote to leave would massively boost the powers of the Scottish Parliament. The greatest fallacy of recent decades is that it is Westminster that is holding Holyrood back in its ability to legislate.”
Mr Stewart said one of the main reasons to leave the EU was to get out of the current Common Fisheries Policy, which he said was damaging Scotland’s fishing industry: “Leaving the EU would give Scotland back full control of the greater part of northern European fishing waters.”
