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General Election 2015: SNP heading for clean sweep in Perthshire

The SNP's Pete Wishart and John Swinney are all smiles at the Perth count.
The SNP's Pete Wishart and John Swinney are all smiles at the Perth count.

The SNP are heading for major victories at neighbouring constituencies in Perthshire.

The Perth and North Perthshire and Ochil and South Perthshire seats boast two of the party’s most high-profile candidates in the shape of former Runrig keyboardist Pete Wishart and rising star Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh.

Perth and Kinross Council leader Ian Miller said there was a real buzz about this year’s campaign.

The local SNP group leader said: “I’ve been out knocking on doors for a few weeks now and the response we have been getting has been fantastic.

“I’ve been in politics for 40 years but I have to say that this is probably the most exciting night of my career.

“From what I saw from the first ballot papers coming in, the entire Labour support has shifted to SNP. It’s just phenomenal.”

He added: “To think that we are in this position just a few months after the disappointment of the referendum result.”

The Perth and North Perthshire patch has been a key target for the Conservatives since the constituency was formed 10 years ago.

Although it has always been held by the SNP, it still has a reputation as a traditional Tory area.

Former musician-turned-politician Wishart won the seat with a narrow 1,500 majority. The gap widened even further five years later.

As polling stations closed, the prolific Twitter user tweeted: “Looks like a massive turn-out in Perth and North Perthshire. Lots of smiling faces and thumbs up at the polling stations.”

Neighbouring Ochil and South Perthshire has been held by Labour’s Gordon Banks for the last decade.

He won the seat with a comfortable 5,187 majority over the SNP’s Annabelle Ewing – a vast improvement on his 2005 performance when he won by just 688 votes.

This time round, Banks is up against his toughest opponent yet, Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh, who has been described as a rising star of the SNP.

The former Conservative who joined the SNP in 2000 looks set to record one of Labour’s biggest blows of the night.