Scottish election 2026: Live results map for every seat in race for Holyrood
The Scottish National Party (SNP) won its fifth consecutive Scottish parliamentary election but fell short of a majority at Holyrood.
John Swinney’s party won 58 seats, falling short of the 65 needed for an overall majority, but it is by far the largest party in the Scottish parliament.
Labor and Reform UK emerged with 17 seats, while the Scottish Greens won 15 seats.
It was a bad night for the Conservatives, who lost their position as parliament’s largest opposition party and completed the worst Holyrood election result in history with 12 seats.
The Scottish Liberal Democrats finished the night with ten seats.
Speaking on Friday night, Mr Swinney declared the SNP had “absolutely” won the election
He also pressed Sir Keir Starmer, saying the Prime Minister had “a lot to listen to” and called for respect between the two governments.
“I hope the lesson has been learned in Downing Street that the Scottish government must be respected by the UK government,” he said.
“My message to Downing Street tonight is very, very clear – they have a lot to listen to about the fact that Labor has been dealt a blow in Scotland and the SNP Government is firmly back in office after 19 years in office and Scotland needs respect as a result of these election results.”
The count faced a number of surprises as SNP minister Angus Robertson lost his Edinburgh Central seat after being ousted by the Scottish Greens and also took a seat from the SNP in Glasgow Southside.
Overview of results in Scotland:
The results were “disappointing and difficult” for Scottish Labor, Anas Sarwar said on Friday.
“We put forward the idea of change, but unfortunately it was not an argument that won us over in the face of a national tide we could not overcome,” the Scottish Labor leader said.
“I want to thank everyone who voted for us – we will continue to fight for you, for the communities across Scotland and for the values we believe in.”
Stating that he is not considering resigning, Sarwar added: “The Scottish Labor Party is suffering today. It is my job to keep our party together. I will do that.”
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Reform UK celebrated a historic night in Scotland after winning 17 seats, matching Labour’s total.
The Greens also almost doubled their total from eight to 15.
In Britain, the results made difficult reading for Sir Keir Starmer’s Labor Party, which lost more than 1,400 councillors.
The party also suffered major losses in Wales, winning just nine seats.
Sir Keir insisted he would continue in his role despite the catastrophic losses.
He acknowledged it had been a “difficult” night for Labor but said “days like this do not weaken my resolve to deliver the change I have promised”.
Reform England has made gains across the country, with hundreds of Labor councilors voted out, putting pressure on the prime minister.
Mr Farage said the results showed a “truly historic shift” in British politics away from the previous era dominated by Labor and the Conservatives, and vowed that “the best is yet to come” for his party.
