The Scottish National party has secured victory in the Holyrood election, but with a muted mandate as its constituency vote share fell to 38.3%, the lowest since 2007. The result upended Scottish politics, with Labour and Reform UK tying for second place and the Scottish Greens claiming a “seismic” result.
Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar conceded defeat early on Friday, with veteran party figures attributing the loss to Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s unpopularity. Despite record donations and a formidable electoral machine, Labour found itself level with Reform UK, a party that previously targeted Sarwar with a racist advertisement and which SNP leader John Swinney has called an acute threat to devolution.
Reform UK won 17 seats on the regional list, though it failed to make any constituency breakthroughs, with its Scottish leader Malcolm Offord trailing in third place in his native Inverclyde. The SNP also suffered losses to the Liberal Democrats and a surprise defeat in Na h-Eileanan an Iar, where local anger over the ferries crisis hurt the incumbent.
Craig Hoy, Scottish Conservative chair, said Reform had allowed the SNP to win many constituency seats by splitting the anti-independence vote. “John Swinney really should’ve been up for a pasting tonight, and Reform let him off the hook,” he said.
The new Holyrood chamber will include Reform MSPs such as Senga Beresford, who has expressed support for Tommy Robinson and the deportation of Muslims, and Amanda Lindsay, who was accused of using an antisemitic trope. The Scottish Greens group will include Iris Duane, the parliament’s first trans woman member, and Kate Nevins, who called for the abolition of prisons. One-third of SNP MSPs stood down at the end of the last term, with new cohorts arriving from Westminster.
