John Swinney has said he is “certain” his SNP will emerge as the largest party in Holyrood as his Scottish Labour rival Anas Sarwar effectively conceded defeat, saying his party was “hurting” after it “didn’t win the argument”.
With the SNP having been in power since 2007 in Scotland, the party now seems set to win a record fifth consecutive term in government in Edinburgh – despite the defeat of a leading member of the Scottish cabinet.
Angus Robertson, who had been the Constitution, External Affairs and Culture Secretary in the Scottish Government, was defeated by the Scottish Greens, as the party claimed its first ever constituency seat in Holyrood’s history.
Lorna Slater – who was a minister in the Scottish Government as part the previous power sharing deal with the SNP – said her victory was “a big step for the Scottish Green Party”.
While all the party’s previous MSPs had been elected on the regional list, the Greens this time round claimed seats in both Edinburgh and Glasgow.
Ms Slater hailed it as a “fantastic day” for the party.
Mr Robertson said that boundary changes in the constituency had been a “significant contributory factor” in his defeat.
But he added: “At the end of the day what matters most is who gets the most votes, and that wasn’t me.”
Mr Robertson continued: “I think one of the most important lessons in politics is to treat people on the way down the way you treat them on the way up.
“Because politics is a really, really hard business.”
His defeat came after the SNP made gains from other parties in earlier results, perhaps most notably winning the Shetland seat which had been held by the Liberal Democrats since the start of devolution.
The SNP also won the Eastwood constituency outside of Glasgow from the Scottish Tories – although here perhaps Mr Swinney’s party were helped by the rise of Reform.
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The Conservative vote was down by more than 10%, with Reform picking up 9% of the vote, resulting in former SNP MP Kirsten Oswald being elected to Holyrood.
Elsewhere the SNP saw current Westminster leader Stephen Flynn elected as the MSP for Aberdeen Deeside and North Kincardine, with fellow SNP MP Stephen Gethins also swapping Westminster for Holyrood after being elected in Dundee City East.
Speaking as results started coming in, Mr Swinney told the Press Association: “What I’m certain about is the SNP is going to be the leading party in the Scottish Parliament after these elections, and we will be so by a very considerable margin.”
Meanwhile Mr Sarwar said Scottish Labour is “hurting”, telling reporters as he arrived at the count in Glasgow that “those who seek to divide us and use people with frustrations to divide us are going to win the day today”.
But Mr Sarwar hinted that he would not step down from his post despite the defeat, adding: “My party is hurting – we’re disappointed.
“We advocate for change, we didn’t win that argument, but it’s my job to hold us together and that’s a job I intend to do.”
Mr Swinney however claimed Labour had fought a “fundamentally negative campaign”.
Speaking about this rivals, the SNP leader said: “They have essentially said to people to vote against the SNP, they’ve not given people any reasons to vote for the Labour Party.
“I set out an ambitious agenda to continue the improvements in the National Health Service, to deliver practical support, to tackle the cost of living challenges that members of the public face, and offer people in Scotland the opportunity of a fresh start with independence.
“You’ve got to motivate people with your message and your ideas and your hopes. The SNP has done that, and the Labour Party hasn’t.”
While the election had been fought against a background of rising support for Reform UK, that has not – yet – translated into any seats for Nigel Farage’s party at Holyrood.
Scottish leader Malcolm Offord was third in the Inverclyde constituency he was standing in – but he, along with other Reform UK candidates could still be elected on the list vote.
Meanwhile Liberal Democrat Liam McArthur, who was the first MSP to be returned in this election, did so with the largest ever share of the vote, holding on to his island constituency with 70% of the ballots cast.
Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Alex Cole-Hamilton said he was “thrilled to see Liam McArthur returning to the Scottish Parliament with the biggest share of the vote in the history of Holyrood”.
He spoke out as results started coming in from 73 constituency seats across Scotland – with the 56 regional list MSPs who will also take their place at Holyrood to be announced later in the day.
Unlike most previous Scottish Parliament elections, counting of the ballots took place the following day, with the traditional overnight count abandoned.