Prime ministerial hopefuls Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss were in the Fair City on Tuesday night (August 16) to woo Conservative members.
The pair are battling it out to take over from Boris Johnson as the next Conservative leader.
Perth was the only Scottish venue to host a leadership hustings.
Conservative members were issued with their ballot papers earlier this month but a large swathe of the concert hall audience indicated they still had not cast their vote.
Despite that, the largest cheers of the night were for foreign secretary Liz Truss.
Ms Truss - who went to primary school in Paisley - refused to share her Scottish accent when pressed by host STV's political editor Colin Mackay. She said she was teased for it as an 11-year-old when her family moved to Leeds.
Ms Truss told the Perth audience she was a "child of the union" and added: "To me we are not just neighbours, we are family - and I will never let our family be split up."
Truss won the loudest round of applause of the evening when she emphatically ruled out letting another referendum take place if elected as leader.
The foreign secretary said: "If I am elected as prime minister, I will not allow another referendum. We had a referendum in 2014 and it was a once-in-a-lifetime referendum. It was agreed by the SNP it was a once-in-a-lifetime referendum. I believe in politicians keeping their promises and Nicola Sturgeon should keep hers."
Prior to this Sunak was reluctant to speak about a referendum.
He said: "It's quite frankly barmy for politicians to focus on another divisive referendum.
"I do not think now or any time in the near future is the right time to hold a referendum.
"This is not the thing we need to talk about. Right now the priority is the cost of living."
The former chancellor said tackling the cost of living crisis was his main priority and he would cut the rate of income tax.
Mr Sunak placed emphasis on growing the economy and pointed to his introduction of the furlough scheme during the pandemic.
As chancellor he announced in March 2021 he would raise the corporation tax of the biggest companies. He said it would still be the lowest of the G7 countries and the fourth lowest in the world's 20 largest economies.
Sunak criticised the Scottish Government for putting more money into the welfare system and less than UK counterparts into the public sector.
He said: "Public spending [here] is growing at a far slower rate than the rest of the UK. She has imposed austerity on the public sector."
Rishi Sunak told the audience his three main aims were "to restore trust, rebuild the economy and reunite our country".
The two contenders - who appeared on stage separately - took a handful of questions from the audience.
One was from former Perth and Kinross councillor Roz McCall who asked what Mr Sunak would do to tackle the perception the Conservative party lacks diversity.
Mr Sunak told the former Strathearn councillor the Conservative party was about to give Britain either its third female prime minister or its first from an ethnic minority.
Truss - who sparked SNP outrage over her comments on "attention seeker" Nicola Sturgeon being "best ignored" - told Scottish Conservatives: "What I am going to ignore are these constant calls for a referendum."
Meanwhile Mr Sunak told the audience: "I will not just ignore Nicola Sturgeon, I want to take her on and beat her."
While Sunak resigned as chancellor Truss has remained in Boris Johnson's cabinet.
Defending Mr Johnson, she said: "Boris has done a great job as prime minister."
She added: "What's done is done."
The female hopeful got the second loudest applause of the night when she vowed to protect free speech and said: "I am not afraid to say a woman is a woman.
"I will make sure we protect single sex spaces."
Ms Truss said she would not reveal the full details of her budget ahead of being elected.
Host Colin Mackay asked how exactly she would keep taxes low, asking if Conservative voters were just being asked to "wait and see" with her.
She said it was a "complex tax system" and she would appoint "competent" people to her cabinet. Truss promised a "thorough review of the tax system".
If elected she pledged to build "a cabinet of all the best talents - including Rishi Sunak".
Boris Johnson's successor as prime minister will be announced on September 5.
