SNP wins Scottish council election as Labour makes gains

1. The SNP again secures the largest number of councillors in Scotland, and gains control of Dundee
2. Scottish Labour takes control of West Dunbartonshire as it overtakes the Conservatives to become the second largest party
3. The Liberal Democrats and the Greens both increased their number of councillors
4. Scottish Conservative leader Douglas Ross blamed partygate after losing more than 60 councillors
5. The SNP finished with 453 councillors (+22), Labour with 282 (+20), the Tories with 214 (-63), the Liberal Democrats with 87 (+20) and the Greens with 35 (+16). There are 152 Independent councillors
6. Comhairle nan Eilean Siar (Western Isles Council) elected female councillors for the first time in five years
7. Alex Salmond’s Alba party failed to secure any councillors
8. The Single Transferable Vote (STV) election method - in which candidates are ranked - was used in this election
9. Newly elected councillors will be responsible for running a range of vital services, including bin collections, schools and social care

How Scotland voted

That's all from our live page team for now. Thanks for being with us during a hectic day of coverage of the Scottish council elections. We'll leave you with another look at the final party standings.

BBC

SNP victory 'not just about independence' - Sturgeon

PA Media

Nicola Sturgeon insists the SNP's "astonishing" council election victory confirms the party continues to "command the trust" of people in Scotland.

The first minister also brushed off what she described as opponents' attempts to "de-legitimise" votes and election victories for the SNP with constitutional arguments as "really desperate".

She said the SNP won a mandate for an independence referendum in the Scottish Parliament elections last year "so that stands and we are taking forward preparations for that", but that support for her party was not just about independence.

"People are voting for the SNP because they judge our record and judge we are the best party to lead Scotland forward, nationally and locally. Crucially, they also judge our opponents and conclude they don’t have the leadership or ideas to take Scotland in the right direction. After 15 years of government, the SNP is the clear, emphatic winner of this election - on vote share and on numbers of councillors. That is pretty astonishing for a party that has been in government as long as we have."

Nicola SturgeonFirst Minister

The final party standings

With all 32 councils declared, this is how the Scottish council election panned out.

BBC

How to explain the Tory performance?

Ailsa Henderson, Professor of Political Science at University of Edinburgh

These are 32 local elections, and voters have lots of local reasons to support particular candidates, but we know that even in local elections voters place more importance on parties than candidates.

In 2017, the Scottish Election Study found that two thirds of those casting ballots voted for a party regardless of the candidate.

And when asked why voters cast first preferences the way they did, more voters mentioned party policies (37%) rather than habit (24%) or the leader (7%).

Getty Images

Disentangling local, Scottish and UK policies is no small feat. It’s possible that this lower Conservative performance is the effect of partygate, or reactions to the cost-of-living crisis, but there are interesting Brexit dynamics at play.

Results are down even in pro-Leave areas of Moray (usually 2-3 points), but are down much more as you head to areas like Banff and District, where disappointment with the implementation of Brexit might well be playing a particular role.

We won’t know until polling after the election why voters cast ballots the way they did but it’s clear that we need to move beyond Leave-Remain effects and evaluate whether previously-Leave supporting voters are disappointed with what has happened.

'I'm buzzing after brilliant Greens result', says MSP Mackay

Reuters

Scottish Greens candidate Christy Mearns reacts during the count in Glasgow

Scottish Greens MSP Gillian Mackay has hailed a "brilliant result" for her party.

With all the 32 councils now declared, the Greens finished with 34 councillors, up 15.

"I am absolutely buzzing," Ms Mackay, MSP for Central Scotland, told BBC Scotland's Drivetime programme. "We have had a brilliant result with new councillors across the country from East Lothian to North and South Lanarkshire and Clackmannanshire, as well as best ever showings in Edinburgh and Glasgow, and Highland as well.

"This is a huge day for the Greens across the country and I'm so proud of all our councillors.

"We have shown in government (along with the SNP) that we can do collaborative politics that delivers the green agenda and people want to see more of this."

'Fantastic day' for Lib Dems - MP Jardine

Drivetime with Fiona Stalker

BBC Radio Scotland

BBC

Scottish Lib Dem leader Alex Cole-Hamilton was in celebratory mood in Edinburgh

Liberal Democrat Christine Jardine, MP for Edinburgh West, has hailed the council election results as a "fantastic day" for her party.

"I heard John Curtice say it’s our best election since 2010 and he might be right," Ms Jardine tells BBC Radio Scotland's Drivetime programme.

“We are seeing gains all over the place. Here in Edinburgh we have doubled our number of councillors, we are up right across the board and in England we are seeing some astonishing results.

"We are the major beneficiaries of this collapse in confidence in Boris Johnson because people want politicians who will listen to them - and that ain’t Boris Johnson."

Ms Jardine says she isn't aware of any deals or pacts with other parties ahead of negotiations over who controls councils without a majority.

But she adds: "I would have thought, after today, we certainly wouldn’t be looking at a coalition with the Conservatives anywhere. There won’t be that many Conservatives anywhere."

SNP continue to resist electoral gravity

Glenn Campbell

BBC Scotland Political Editor

We’ve got used to the SNP winning elections in Scotland. In this contest, they continue to resist electoral gravity. The party have now gained an 11th successive national victory.

They are not the only party with something to celebrate. After years of decline, Labour is also making gains - including taking overall control of West Dunbartonshire council.

Labour has regained second place from the Conservatives, who suffered significant losses and seem to be taking a bigger hit in Scotland than England.

Some Scottish Tories are blaming Boris Johnson and partygate, with others highlighting the Scottish party leader Douglas Ross’s flip-flop over whether the PM should resign.

The Liberal Democrats have also picked up seats as have the Greens who seem to have benefitted from their power-sharing deal with the SNP in the Scottish government.

BreakingSNP finishes as biggest party in Scottish council elections

BBC

Labour overtakes the Conservatives to finish second, with Tory leader Douglas Ross blaming partygate.

BreakingSouth Lanarkshire Council - Final result

The SNP gains one seat to remain the largest party on South Lanarkshire Council with 28 of the 64 seats.

Labour gained one to finish on 23.

The Scottish Conservatives win just eight seats, down six from the last election.

The Lib Dems win three and independents win two.

Sturgeon thrilled by 'incredible' SNP result

Getty Images

Scotland's First Minister Nicola Sturgeon says she is "thrilled" at the SNP's result in the council elections, hailing it as a "quite incredible outcome".

"We have not only won the election – an eighth consecutive election victory since I’ve been leader - but won it overwhelmingly. I think we’re going to end up 12 to 13 points ahead of our nearest rival.

"We have increased our share of the vote and the number of councillors we have and I think we’re going to be the largest party in more councils than before."

"All of that would be a fantastic result for any party in any circumstances, but the SNP has been in government for 15 years now. This result says people - while recognising the SNP is not perfect, no party is - trust the SNP to lead the country forward at national and, crucially, at local level."

Nicola SturgeonScotland's First Minister

BreakingArgyll and Bute Council - Final result

The SNP and the Scottish Conservatives both gain one seat each on Argyll and Bute Council.

The SNP remain the largest party with 12 of the 36 seats.

The Conservatives win 10.

The Independents drop three to seven.

The Lib Dems win five and Labour one, as do the Scottish Greens.

Who will govern the Granite City?

Andrew Kerr

Scottish political correspondent

The Granite City has spoken. The SNP have been rewarded and the Conservatives have fallen in favour, but not by much.

Attention now turns to who can govern the city - could the nationalists go into coalition with their colleagues in opposition, the Lib Dems?

Labour say they haven’t given up hope of being involved in the next administration after their controversial five-year coalition with the Conservatives.

However, any thought of an SNP-Labour deal was thought highly unlikely by one senior SNP figure here at the count.

The Lib Dems are a little gleeful - bright-eyed, they’ve been seen chatting amicably to their new nationalist friends.

The Conservatives attempted to dismiss concerns about the partygate affair, bluntly asking voters if they preferred the SNP in power.

We’ll have to wait until next week to see how the cards might fall.

BreakingFalkirk Council - Final result

The Scottish National Party maintains its position as the largest group on Falkirk Council with 12 of the 30 seats, unchanged from the last election.

Labour in second are also unchanged on nine.

The Conservatives drop two to five and there are four independents.

BreakingAberdeenshire Council - Final result

The Scottish Conservatives gain three seats to consolidate their position as the largest party on Aberdeenshire Council, with 26 of the 70 seats.

The SNP gain one to finish on 22.

The Lid Dems win 13 and independents win nine.

Scratch under the surface to see the real Borders story

BBC

Jenni Davidson, BBC Scotland political reporter

On the face of it, little change in the Scottish Borders.

The Scottish Conservatives remain the biggest party with 14 seats, one down on 2017. The SNP stay on nine seats.

There is one fewer independent councillor than last time, while the Lib Dems gain one seat, going up to three, and the Greens win their first council seat in the region.

But look under the surface and there is something more significant going on with the Conservative vote.

There has been a drop in Conservative vote share in every ward in the Borders, the highest being a 17.7% fall in East Berwickshire, with four others in the double digits.

While the number of seats overall remains similar, the popularity of candidates in terms of first-choice votes has changed.

A Conservative candidate had the most first-choice votes in seven of the 11 wards in the Scottish Borders in 2017, but they were first-placed in just three wards in 2022.

BreakingDumfries and Galloway Council - Final result

The Scottish Conservatives remain the largest party on Dumfries and Galloway Council with 16 of the 43 seats, unchanged from the last election.

The SNP are also unchanged on 11.

Labour drop two to nine and independents are up two at six.

There is also one Lib Dem councillor.

BreakingGlasgow City Council - Final result

The SNP remains the largest party on Glasgow City Council, with 37 of the 85 seats.

The party finishes down two but Labour are up five to 36.

The Scottish Greens are up three to 10, while the Scottish Conservatives slump to just two councillors, losing six.

BreakingHighland Council - Final result

The SNP is now the largest on Highland Council after the number of independent councillors was cut by seven to 21.

The Scottish National Party remain on 22 of the 74 councillors.

The Lib Dems made big gains, up five to 15, and the Scottish Greens were up three to four.

The Scottish Conservatives won 10 seats and Scottish Labour two.

Salmond vows to fight on for independence

Andrew Kerr

Scottish political correspondent

Alex Salmond’s Alba party have failed to secure any councillors.

There’s a strong presence from the party here on the ground at the Aberdeen/Aberdeenshire count - but that’s not translated through to votes and council seats.

The former first minister says he’s “disappointed” - but says the Alba vote is registering everywhere and they’re making progress but have still got some way to go.

Mr Salmond says it is thanks to Alba that a firm commitment on a second independence referendum has been made - and warns the SNP will reap a “whirlwind” if it’s not delivered.

The former SNP leader controversially hosted a show on the Kremlin-backed RT.

Questioned if his personality could have turned voters off, Mr Salmond said all Alba lacked just now was the credibility to win elections and experience warmth on the doorsteps.

The next focus is on the Scottish elections in four years’ time - but Mr Salmond wouldn’t confirm if they would stand against the SNP in a Westminster election.

BreakingEdinburgh City Council - Final result

The SNP remain the largest party on Edinburgh City Council, with 19 of the 63 seats.

The Scottish Conservatives slump from second place to fifth, losing nine seats.

Labour take second place with 13 and the Lib Dems gain six to finish with 12 seats.

The Scottish Greens won 10 seats, up two.