Election 2024
Results: parties by seats
326 seats for a majority
0 seats to go
  • Labour: 412 seats, 211 seats gained
  • Conservative: 121 seats, 251 seats lost
  • Liberal Democrat: 72 seats, 64 seats gained
  • Scottish National Party: 9 seats, 39 seats lost
  • Sinn Fein: 7 seats, No change
  • Others: 29 seats, 15 seats gained
Change since 2019

Summary

  • After 56 declarations, Labour has won 37 seats; the SNP nine; Liberal Democrats five; and Conservatives five

  • It was a triumphant night for Labour which took dozens of seats off the SNP, including all six in Glasgow

  • Scottish Tory leader Douglas Ross lost his bid to return to Westminster, describing it a "historically bad night" for the Conservatives

  • First Minister and SNP leader John Swinney described the result for his party as "very, very difficult and damaging".

  • SNP casualties included Kirsten Oswald, Tommy Sheppard, Alison Thewliss and high-profile MP Joanna Cherry

  • Labour's Ian Murray, who comfortably held his Edinburgh South seat, has been appointed as the new Scottish Secretary

  • One final seat - Inverness, Skye and West Ross-shire - has yet to be called and will go to a re-count on Saturday. The Lib Dems are expected to win after SNP candidate Drew Hendry conceded defeat

  1. Goodbyepublished at 21:00 British Summer Time 5 July

    After a hectic and historic 24 hours, that's all from our live page coverage of the UK general election 2024.

    Over Thursday and Friday, this page was edited by Paul McLaren, Steven Brocklehurst, Calum Watson and Paul O'Hare. The writers were Craig Hutchison, Paul Hastie, Ashleigh Keenan-Bryce, Megan Bonar, Katy Scott, James Delaney, Morven Mckinnon and Rachel Grant.

    Remember, there is still one result to be officially called in Scotland - Inverness, Skye and West Ross-shire - although it is expected to go to the Lib Dems.

    The final result is expected after 10:30 on Saturday, and we'll have full details on the BBC Scotland News website.

    Thanks for being with us.

  2. General Election 2024: The headlinespublished at 20:57 British Summer Time 5 July

    Here's a reminder of the main headlines in Scotland:

    • Labour has won a landslide victory in Scotland with 37 seats – a gain of 36
    • The SNP have been reduced to nine
    • The Scottish Conservatives have five seats but party leader Douglas Ross lost out to the SNP in Aberdeenshire North and Moray East after controversially standing instead of a local candidate who had been ill
    • The Lib Dems are likely to end on six seats if they win Inverness, Skye and West Ross-shire. The SNP candidate has conceded defeat but the result will not be confirmed until Saturday when a second recount will begin at 10:30
    • First Minister John Swinney has described the result, the SNP's worst since 2010, as "very, very difficult and damaging"
    • Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar said it was a "historic day" and that the new Labour MPs would "make decisions for the people of Scotland"
    • Douglas Ross said it had been “deeply difficult campaign and result” for his party
    • Scottish Labour took a 37.5% share of the vote in Scotland, a 17% increase, reaching 412 seats overall across the UK
  3. Labour landslide in Scotland with one seat still to declarepublished at 20:28 British Summer Time 5 July

    seats won by party in Scotland

    Labour won a landslide victory in Scotland with 37 seats – a gain of 36 on the single seat they in 2019.

    The SNP, who won 48 seats in 2019, have been reduced to nine.

    The Scottish Conservatives have five seats but party leader Douglas Ross - who is standing down after the vote -lost out to the SNP in Aberdeenshire North and Moray East after controversially standing instead of a local candidate who had been ill.

    The Liberal Democrats are on five seats, which would rise to six if they win Inverness, Skye and West Ross-shire.

    The SNP candidate in that seat has conceded defeat but the votes will not be counted until Saturday morning.

    First Minister John Swinney has described the result, the SNP's worst since 2010, as "very, very difficult and damaging".

    He said the party would have to rebuild trust with the people of Scotland.

    Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar said it was a "historic day" and that the new Labour MPs would "make decisions for the people of Scotland".

    Mr Ross described it as a “deeply difficult campaign and result” for his party.

    He told BBC Reporting Scotland: “I don’t think we need any knee-jerk reaction that we may regret in the short to medium term.”

  4. The election map in Scotland with one seat to gopublished at 20:13 British Summer Time 5 July

    election map as it stands
  5. What are the party leaders saying today?published at 19:59 British Summer Time 5 July

    Anas Sarwar with newly elected Scottish Labour MPs in front of the Finnieston craneImage source, PA Media

    Surrounded by newly elected MPs on Glasgow's Clydeside, Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar said his "many" new Scottish MPs are not going to go to Westminster to shout, protest and ultimately come back with nothing.

    He says: "They are going to sit on the government benches, to sit round the table and make decisions for the people of Scotland. That is the change that people have voted for."

    Following a night of heavy losses for the SNP, First Minister John Swinney says his party has built trust with the Scottish people before, by delivering on key policies, and will do so again.

    He says: "Delivering policy commitments that change the lives of individuals are central in how you build up trust and I commit us to ensuring that we focus on that delivery."

    Reflecting on a positive night for the Scottish Greens, co-leader Patrick Harvie says he hopes the result will be a "springboard" to further success in the 2016 Scottish election.

    Scottish Liberal Democrats leader Alex Cole-Hamilton says his party is having "a lovely day", attributing the best Lib Dem election result in the party's history to Sir Ed Davey's "colourful antics and stunts but with a deep message" on the campaign trail.

    Douglas Ross failed to secure the seat he contested in Aberdeenshire North and Moray East, describing the election result as a "historically bad night" for the Conservatives.

  6. Labour has given the SNP a drubbing in Scotlandpublished at 19:51 British Summer Time 5 July

    Glenn Campbell
    BBC Scotland Political Editor

    It seems that many voters, including many who have stuck with the SNP in the decade since the independence referendum, saw the 2024 campaign as an opportunity to deliver change.

    But they saw Labour and Keir Starmer as a better route to that political change than the SNP.

    When it comes to the SNP, it can be said that their new leader John Swinney has stabilised things a bit in his short time in charge of the party.

    It may be that because an election was called so soon after he took over from Humza Yousaf, who had barely been in charge for a year, that he manages to avoid significant blame for what has happened here.

    There are certainly no loud calls for him to step aside, so it may be that his party decides to let him pick up the pieces and try to rebuild ahead of the next election - the big Holyrood campaign in 2026.

    Labour now sees an opportunity to challenge the SNP for power in the devolved parliament.

  7. Labour hopes to 'reset' relations between Scottish and UK governmentspublished at 19:40 British Summer Time 5 July

    Rajdeep Sandhu
    BBC Scotland Westminster correspondent

    In Keir Starmer's winning speech, he wasn't offering people unlimited hope, high on the fumes of victory.

    He was managing expectations, talking about how change will take time.

    Perhaps he will do in government what he did on the campaign - under-promise and over-deliver.

    We've seen that he's appointed a stable cabinet.

    He's appointed Ian Murray as Scottish Secretary, who says that he's going to reset those relationships between the Scottish and UK government and tackle poverty in Scotland.

    The UK parliament is going to look very different when MPs take their seats next week.

  8. More Labour cabinet positionspublished at 19:38 British Summer Time 5 July

    Alan CampbellImage source, Reuters
    Image caption,

    Alan Campbell becomes the Chief Whip

    Alan Campbell has been appointed to the position of Chief Whip, responsible for making sure Labour MPs vote the way Labour's leadership want them to.

    Darren Jones has been appointed Chief Secretary to the Treasury.

    The minister, who work as second-in-command under Chancellor Rachel Reeves, will attend cabinet.

    And Barrister Richard Hermer KC has been appointed Attorney General.

    He will also receive a life peerage to allow him to sit in the House of Lords and attend cabinet.

  9. 'I don't have any regrets' - Douglas Rosspublished at 19:29 British Summer Time 5 July

    Douglas Ross says he has no regrets about standing instead of David Duguid in Aberdeenshire North and Moray East.

    The Scottish Tory leader was controversially selected to stand ahead of Duguid, who had been the MP representing much of the area prior to the boundary changes.

    Duguid was effectively de-selected while he was ill in hospital.

    Ross, who said he would stand down as Scottish Tory leader over the matter, said Reform UK taking 5,500 votes would have made the seat a challenge for any Tory candidate.

    "Of course things could've and maybe should've been done differently," he says.

    "I don't have any regrets."

    He goes on to say: "Actually in Scotland we have held up with five of our six seats returned."

    "This has been a deeply difficult election campaign and result."

  10. Ross sorry his party didn't make more gains in Scotlandpublished at 19:15 British Summer Time 5 July

    douglas ross

    Scottish Conservative leader Douglas Ross - who failed in his bid to win a Westminster seat - tells the BBC's Reporting Scotland programme: "I'm sorry we didn't make more gains in Scotland."

    However he says he is delighted that Harriet Cross - who won in Gordon and Buchan - is a new Scottish Conservative MP.

    Ross says: "Clearly our vote was down across the country and in other seats we were squeezed"

    He himself failed to take Aberdeenshire North and Moray East for the Tories.

    Fraserburgh councillor Seamus Logan won the seat for the SNP.

    Read more here

  11. Lib Dems to end above the Tories in Scotlandpublished at 19:12 British Summer Time 5 July

    If the Lib Dems win the final seat to declare tomorrow they will end up with six seats in Scotland, one more than the Scottish Conservatives.

    The Inverness, Skye and West Ross-shire seat looks set to go to the Lib Dems after the SNP candidate Drew Hendry conceded defeat.

    That would mean the SNP would finish with nine seats in Scotland, down from 48 in 2019.

    Labour, who only had one seat in 2019, are now on 37.

  12. Lib Dems seem likely to gain final seatpublished at 19:05 British Summer Time 5 July

    The Liberal Democrats have been claiming victory for their candidate in Inverness, Skye and West Ross-shire but now the SNP candidate has conceded defeat.

    The Lib Dems claim Angus MacDonald is about 1,500 votes ahead of his SNP rival Drew Hendry but the result has not been declared because of discrepancy in the count.

    A recount in the constituency - the last in the UK to declare - has been delayed until Saturday at 10.30am.

    It's being held due to a statistical issue - there appears to be a discrepancy between the verified votes and the counted votes - which means the returning officer cannot declare a result at this stage.

    Drew Hendry has said he will not be at the count in Dingwall tomorrow.

    He said: “The second recount is obviously an extraordinary situation that couldn’t have been predicted and it’s frustrating and disappointing that I cannot attend, but I have an unmovable prior commitment."

    Hendry conceded defeat and wished the new MP every success in his new role.

  13. The SNP's Drew Hendry concedes final seatpublished at 18:53 British Summer Time 5 July
    Breaking

    Drew Hendry

    Scotland's last result - Inverness, Skye, & West Ross-shire - will not be declared until tomorrow but the SNP candidate Drew Hendry has conceded defeat.

    It seems likely the seat will go to the Lib Dems but counting will not take place until 10.30 on Saturday.

    Quote Message

    It has been an absolute joy to serve the people of Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey for the past nine years. I am obviously disappointed not to be continuing that representation under the new Inverness, Skye and West Ross-shire boundary and wish the new MP every success in his new role."

    Drew Hendry, SNP candidate

  14. Analysis

    Voters are fickle these days... if you don't deliver, you are outpublished at 18:38 British Summer Time 5 July

    Rajdeep Sandhu
    BBC Scotland Westminster correspondent

    It’s very easy for us to say that this is a massive change for the UK – and it is politically, it is historically.

    But actually for the day-to-day lives of people, it’s not going to really change their tomorrow or their next week.

    And that is the challenge that Keir Starmer has – to try to get people to feel like things are getting better. That the money in their pocket buys them more, that they can speak to their GP quickly.

    That is the bar that Labour will be judged by and it is a very high one and they will have to deliver.

    Because we have seen in this election that the voters these days are very fickle and if you don’t deliver, you are out.

  15. Commons and Lords leaders appointedpublished at 18:29 British Summer Time 5 July

    More announcements now from No 10: Lucy Powell has been appointed Lord President of the Council and leader of the House of Commons.

    Baroness Smith of Basildon has been appointed Lord Privy Seal and leader of the House of Lords.

  16. The Scotland Office will lead on promoting ‘Brand Scotland’ says Murraypublished at 18:23 British Summer Time 5 July

    Ian MurrayImage source, Crown

    The new secretary of state for Scotland Ian Murray says it is "real privilege" to have been asked to serve in Keir Starmer’s first cabinet.

    "My absolute priority in the role will be to deliver the change and renewal that Scotland needs – to drive economic growth, create jobs and reduce poverty," Murray says.

    He said he would make sure the Scotland Office is a strong voice for Scotland within the UK government.

    Quote Message

    “The Scotland Office will lead on promoting ‘Brand Scotland’ around the globe. Selling our world class produce, products and services to the world."

    Ian Murray, Secretary of State for Scotland

  17. Why are we still waiting on one result in Scotland?published at 18:07 British Summer Time 5 July

    SNP candidate Drew Hendry chats with SNP MSP and Scotland's deputy first minister Kate Forbes during the count in DingwallImage source, .BBC
    Image caption,

    SNP candidate Drew Hendry chats with SNP MSP and Scotland's deputy first minister Kate Forbes during the count in Dingwall

    If you're wondering why we are still waiting for one result in Scotland it's because the ballot in a Highland constituency has been delayed until Saturday.

    The outcome in Inverness, Skye and West Ross-shire had been expected at about 05:00, but just before 10:00 candidates were told the votes would need to be recounted for a second time.

    Returning officer Derek Brown said there was a discrepancy between the verified votes total and the provisional number of counted votes.

    The candidates - including the SNP's Drew Hendry who has been an MP in the area since 2015 - have been told to return to the counting centre in Dingwall at 10:30 on Saturday.

    Read more here.

  18. Abbott and Nandy given positionspublished at 17:57 British Summer Time 5 July

    Dianne AbbottImage source, Reuters

    Diane Abbott will become the Mother of the House in the new parliament, a symbolic title given to the longest-serving female MP.

    After a tumultuous few months, Abbott was re-elected in the Hackney North and Stoke Newington constituency in the 2024 general election, picking up 60% of the vote share.

    And in a change of role, Lisa Nandy has been appointed the new culture secretary.

    She had been given international development brief in Keir Starmer's shadow cabinet, but appears to have shifted position after Thangam Debbonaire was defeated in Bristol Central by Green Party's co-leader Carla Denyer.

  19. Benn and Stevens appointed to cabinetpublished at 17:44 British Summer Time 5 July

    And two more ministers for the nations have been confirmed:

    • Hilary Benn - Northern Ireland secretary
    • Jo Stevens - Welsh secretary
  20. Ian Murray appointed secretary of state for Scotlandpublished at 17:41 British Summer Time 5 July

    Ian MurrayImage source, Reuters
    Image caption,

    Ian Murray has been appointed as secretary of state for Scotland

    As expected, Ian Murray has been appointed secretary of state for Scotland.

    Murray, who was Labour’s sole Scottish MP after the 2019 general election, replaces Alister Jack in the role.

    The Edinburgh South MP has served under Keir Starmer as shadow Scottish secretary since April 2020.

    He has been an MP in the constituency since 2010 and ran to be deputy leader of the party in January 2020, only to finish fourth in the race.