Scotland election live: Labour celebrates after gains from SNP as Conservative leader Douglas Ross loses seat

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

Live Reporting

Edited by Paul McLaren and Steven Brocklehurst

Labour wins in Fifepublished at 05:52 British Summer Time 5 July
Ben Philip
BBC Scotland in Glenrothes
After feeling a bit left out on the election results side of things, the Fife declarations have finally been made.
The first declaration was Cowdenbeath and Kirkcaldy shortly after 5am and it was a Labour gain - candidate Melanie Ward the winner - she’s currently a Fife councillor.
She thanked outgoing MP Neale Hanvey who had won the seat for the SNP at the last election before defecting to the Alba Party in 2021. He didn’t stay for the declaration.
Glenrothes and Mid Fife was the second seat to declare here and story of the night, it was a Labour gain from the SNP.
The winning candidate Richard Baker replaced the SNP’s Peter Grant who was standing down at this election.
Richard Baker is a former MSP - so he’s making a return to politics after working for a number of charities.
It was three out of three for Labour with a gain in Dunfermline and Dollar.
Graeme Downie - a local councillor - the winner.
The outgoing MP - the SNP’s Douglas chapman is also stepping down at this election.
It wasn’t to be a clean sweep in Fife for Labour though. North Eastern Fife was last to be declared and was gained by high-profile Liberal Democrat candidate Wendy Chamberlain.
She won the seat in the last election but boundary changes made it notionally SNP so for the purposes of this election it’s seen as a Liberal Democrat gain.
Lib Dems gain Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross from SNPpublished at 05:49 British Summer Time 5 July
Another Lib Dems gain this morning, taking Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross from the SNP. Jamie Stone wins 22,736 votes ahead of the SNP on 12,247.
Full result here
A 'massive weight lifted' says Sarwarpublished at 05:45 British Summer Time 5 July
Media caption,
Anas Sarwar thanks voters for putting faith in Labour
Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar says the country can now turn the page on 14 years of Conservative "chaos and failure".
"Straight away people are going to have a massive weight lifted off their shoulders," he tells BBC Scotland.
But, he adds that a second stage of change will come at the 2026 Scottish Parliament elections.
SNP gain Aberdeenshire North and Moray East from Conservativespublished at 05:42 British Summer Time 5 July
The SNP gain Aberdeenshire North and Moray East, Seamus Logan takes 13,455 votes, ahead of outgoing Scottish Tory leader Douglas Ross in second place on 12,513.
Full result here
Douglas Ross loses out to SNPpublished at 05:41 British Summer Time 5 July
Breaking
Scottish Tory leader Douglas Ross has lost out to the SNP in the Aberdeenshire North and Moray East seat.
Image source, PA Media
Boundary changes make for a confusing resultpublished at 05:39 British Summer Time 5 July
Philip Sim
BBC Scotland political correspondent
North East Fife is a Lib Dem GAIN, and yes I know that sounds weird but the boundaries have changed so it was notionally an SNP seat. Wendy Chamberlain has taken the seat from, er, Wendy Chamberlain.
Lib Dems gain North East Fife from SNPpublished at 05:34 British Summer Time 5 July
It's another Lib Dem gain in Scotland, taking North East Fife from the SNP. Wendy Chamberlain takes 23,384 votes, ahead of the SNP on 9,905.
Full result here
The results so far with 12 seats still to declarepublished at 05:32 British Summer Time 5 July
Labour gain Dunfermline and Dollar from SNPpublished at 05:31 British Summer Time 5 July
Another Labour gain, this time Dunfermline and Dollar from SNP. Graeme Downie takes 20,336 votes, with the SNP on 12,095.
Full result here
Outgoing MP's message to Scotland’s young women of colourpublished at 05:28 British Summer Time 5 July
Georgia Roberts
BBC Scotland political correspondent in Motherwell
A departing rallying cry from one of Scotland’s few women of colour to represent the SNP at Westminster.
Anum Qaisar - like her three other colleagues in North Lanarkshire - was swept away by Labour this evening.
She has a message to Scotland’s young women of colour.
“Don’t be put off by seeing me lose today," she says. "Politics can be hard, really hard on women, more so for women of colour. I’ve gone through those experiences.”
She calls on them to be “emboldened” today to stand for parliament and fight for further equalities.
SNP hold Arbroath and Broughty Ferrypublished at 05:28 British Summer Time 5 July
Stephen Gethins holds Arbroath and Broughty Ferry for the SNP. He wins 15,581 votes ahead of Labour on 14,722.
Full result here
SNP hold Moray West, Nairn and Strathspeypublished at 05:24 British Summer Time 5 July
Graham Leadbitter holds Moray West, Nairn and Strathspey for the SNP with 14,961 votes. Ahead of the Conservatives on 13,960.
Full result here
Glasgow clean sweep is hugely symbolic for Labourpublished at 05:19 British Summer Time 5 July
Philip Sim
BBC Scotland political correspondent
Labour has now swept the board in Glasgow – a centrepiece of their comeback in Scotland.
The SNP made the point during the campaign that the party doesn’t really need Scottish seats when it's on course for such a huge majority UK-wide.
But regaining these heartlands is hugely symbolic for the party.
The same is true of retaking Cowdenbeath and Kirkcaldy – the seat of Labour’s last prime minister, Gordon Brown.
Fittingly, it was announced it was back in their hands at the same time as Sir Keir Starmer was giving his victory speech.
Labour wins every seat in Glasgowpublished at 05:17 British Summer Time 5 July
Katy Scott
BBC Scotland news in Glasgow
Glasgow’s sixth and final MP has been chosen - and Scottish Labour has full control of the city.
Glasgow North voted Martin Rhodes as its MP and the crowd is going wild.
His speech is perhaps the most rousing of the six new Glasgow Labour MPs as it signals that the city has changed - from completely yellow, to completely red.
However his win represents the smallest margin for Glasgow Labour wins - with about 14,000 votes compared to some 11,000 for SNP candidate Alison Thewliss.
Across the hall, the SNP’s candidate tears up as a rousing cheer proclaims: “SNP! SNP! Oh, Alison Thewliss!”
Labour gain Glenrothes and Mid Fife from SNPpublished at 05:16 British Summer Time 5 July
Labour take Glenrothes and Mid Fife from the SNP as their next win.
Swinney: We need to learn from this setbackpublished at 05:12 British Summer Time 5 July
Image source, Reuters
It's been a grim few hours for SNP leader John Swinney.
He has just tweeted: "This is a very, very difficult night for @theSNP, external. I am sorry for the valued colleagues who have lost their seats. We need to learn from this setback, listen to the public and pick ourselves back up. We have to do that because we want to do the best for Scotland."
Here's the headlines from the general election in Scotlandpublished at 05:11 British Summer Time 5 July
Here are the headlines from Scotland:
- Labour has won the general election and is set for a landslide victory having made huge gains from the SNP
- In Scotland, Labour has so far won 35 seats - up from just one in 2019
- The latest forecast has the SNP winning just 8 seats - down from 48 at the last election
- SNP casualties include SNP deputy Westminster leader Kirsten Oswald who was ousted by Labour's Blair McDougall in East Renfrewshire
- High-profile SNP MP Joanna Cherry lost her seat in Edinburgh South West
- Kirsty Blackman and Westminster leader Stephen Flynn both managed to cling on to their seats for the SNP, as did Pete Wishart
- SNP leader and Scotland's First Minister John Swinney said it was a "very poor result" for his party and there would be much soul searching
- The latest BBC forecast is: Labour 410 seats; Tories 144; Lib Dems 58; SNP 8 and others 26
Labour wins fifth Glasgow seatpublished at 05:09 British Summer Time 5 July
Katy Scott
BBC Scotland news
Glasgow has elected its fifth Scottish Labour candidate, with just one more seat to be called.
Zubir Ahmed becomes the MP for Glasgow South West with more than 15,000 votes.
The SNP candidate follows in second with 12,200.
Like the other Glasgow seats, the Greens score third place, Reform follows in fourth and Scottish Conservatives in fifth.
Mr Ahmed pledges to “serve” voters and “be by your side”, whether they are lifelong Labour supporters or newcomers to the party.
“I will take your voices, experiences and aspirations to the heart of our next government led by our Prime Minister Keir Starmer,” he says.
“You deserve nothing less.”
He thanks his family and notably his father, who is in his 80s and arrived at the count in the black cab he drives around the city.
Labour gain Cowdenbeath and Kirkcaldy from SNPpublished at 05:09 British Summer Time 5 July
Labour win in Cowdenbeath and Kirkcaldy now, taking it from the SNP.
Labour gain Glasgow North from SNPpublished at 05:07 British Summer Time 5 July
Now it's a Labour gain in Glasgow North from the SNP.