The Scottish Conservatives sound "more confident" of holding on to Aberdeenshire West, which could be pivotal in deciding if the SNP win an outright majority, according to BBC political correspondent Nick Eardley.

The Tories' Alexander Burnett had a majority of just 900 in 2016.

That declaration, initially expected around 15:00, could now be heard "closer to 4pm", according to our reporter Davy Shanks.

Meanwhile the declaration from East Kilbride is not far away either, with our reporter Alasdair Keane assessing the cake preferences among the media meantime.

Mairi McAllan has won Clydesdale for the SNP with a reduced majority of 4,578 over the Conservatives in second.

The Tory vote share was up 5.7%.

The seat was held before the election by Aileen Campbell, the former Communities Secretary, who did not seek re-election.

Full results here

A trapped school pupil sparked the fire alarm which delayed the Argyll and Bute election count.

Counting was temporarily halted on Friday for a full evacuation of the Mid Argyll sports centre in Lochgilphead.

It's understood a pupil at the adjacent Lochgilphead High School found themselves in a room where they couldn't get out without opening a fire door which then set off the alarm.

The full Highlands and Islands regional list result is now not expected until later this evening.

The Conservatives have held the Galloway and West Dumfries seat.

Finlay Carson won the seat with an increased majority of 2,635.

Both the Tories and the SNP, in second, increased their vote.

Labour were down on vote share by 6.7%.

Full results here

James Dornan has held on to Glasgow Cathcart for the SNP.

Full results here

Here are some of the latest results and developments on the second day of counting:

• The SNP have continued to build their lead in the constituency vote in Saturday's counting, holding on to 14 more seats where they previously had MSPs
• One of them was the top Tory target seat of Perthshire South and Kinross-shire, but Jim Fairlie increased the SNP majority to 1,848

• With 62 out of 73 constituencies declared, the latest tally is SNP 53, Lib Dems 4, Conservatives 3, Labour 2
• No seats have changed hands since Friday when the SNP took two from the Conservatives (Ayr and Edinburgh Central ) and one from Labour (East Lothian)
• The fortunes of the Greens depend mainly on the regional list results, which will also boost representation for the Conservatives, Labour and the Lib Dems
• Alex Salmond has again conceded his Alba party is unlikely to get enough votes to return any MSPs
• It's still unclear if the SNP will win an overall majority - key seats to watch are Aberdeenshire West and Galloway. The Highland and South of Scotland list results are also crucial.
• Police are investigating a possible case of "personation" in Edinburgh Northern and Leith after one person turned up to vote, but found it had already been cast. Sources stress it could be a clerical error rather than electoral fraud
• The Highland list result will be delayed until this evening after a fire alarm disrupted the Lochgilphead count on Friday. It was caused by a pupil at the adjacent high school opening a fire door, which triggered the alarm system.

Patrick Harvie, the co-leader of the Scottish Greens, says the party is "still hopeful of making gains but we just need to see the final scores on the doors."

He explains the next session of the Scottish Parliament has to focus on the sustainable industries of the future.

There needs to be an emergency response to the climate emergency, he argues.

"Scotland's future belongs in the hands of the people of Scotland, rather than the person behind the door of Number 10 Downing Street," he continues.

Mr Harvie says it will be up to the SNP if they want to carry on as a minority government if they miss getting a majority.

If the SNP wants to reach out and make coalition arrangements with the Greens it will be his whole party that decides to agree to that, he adds.

Graeme Dey has held Angus South for the SNP.

Mr Dey increased his majority over the Conservatives to 6,117.

The Tory and Labour share of the vote went down.

Full results here

Curtice: Anti-SNP tactical voting evident in list ballot countpublished at 15:13 British Summer Time 8 May 2021

15:13 BST 8 May 2021

Professor Sir John Curtice
Polling expert

Another way of identifying the progress of unionist tactical voting in Scotland can be seen by looking at the difference between the constituency and list vote according to the political character of the constituencies.

In seats that the Conservatives were defending against the SNP, the party's vote is on average five points higher on the constituency vote than on the list vote.

In contrast, its vote is nine points lower in the constituencies than on the list in seats where Labour were second to the SNP in 2016.

Similarly, Labour's vote is 18 points higher on the constituency than on the list in seats it was defending against the SNP, whereas the party's vote was one point lower on the list where the Conservatives were defending a seat against the SNP.

• In the first two constituencies in the South of Scotland where the list vote has been declared, George Galloway's Alliance for Unity party was running at 1.5%. This suggests that he is unlikely to make it into the parliament.

Shirley-Anne Somerville has held Dunfermline for the SNP with a greatly increased majority of 8,664 over Labour.

The SNP share of the vote went up by 5.6% on an increased turnout.

Labour and the Conservatives were both down on share of the vote.

Full results here

Scottish Conservatives leader Douglas Ross admits the prospect of the SNP winning an outright majority is "absolutely on a knife-edge".

"They were only two seats short going in, they have a net gain of one at the moment, so clearly it is extremely close," he told BBC Scotland.

"It will come down to the last few seats and last few votes and we have got to wait until we see the final picture."

Mr Ross, who hopes to enter Holyrood via the Highlands & Islands regional list, hailed the "very good results" secured by Jackson Carlaw (Eastwood), Rachael Hamilton (Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire) and Oliver Mundell (Dumfriesshire) in retaining their constituency seats.

He admits he was "really disappointed" to see John Scott lose his seat in Ayr, while Edinburgh Central, where the SNP's Angus Robertson won the seat vacated by former Conservatives leader Ruth Davidson, was "always going to be difficult for us".

"We've just got to wait and see what happens with some more seats today, and of course the crucial list seats," Mr Ross added.

Majority has implications beyond independencepublished at 14:58 British Summer Time 8 May 2021

14:58 BST 8 May 2021

Philip Sim
BBC Scotland political correspondent

There is a lot of talk about whether or not the SNP win a majority – and not just because this is the main exciting element of the election which is still in question.

The contest overall has been something of a stroll for the SNP. But whether or not they tip over the “magic number” of 65 could be hugely important – and not just because of independence.

A minority government would need to find partners among the other parties to get anything done in parliament for the next five years, from passing a budget bill to getting major reforms and legislation through.

So this is a question of whether the SNP will be able to simply work through its manifesto and implement it, or if they may end up having to take the priorities of other parties into account.

Seats on Holyrood committees are also doled out on the basis of overall representation in parliament, so a majority government would also dominate the committees which scrutinise its work.

So even away from the ever-present issue of independence, Nicola Sturgeon will breathe much easier if her party does successfully navigate the narrow path to a majority.

The SNP’s Angela Constance has held Almond Valley for the SNP with an increased majority over Labour.

Her majority went up by almost 4,000 to 12,130.

Labour's share of the vote was down 3.7% on an increased turnout.

Full results here

Jenny Gilruth has held Mid Fife and Glenrothes for the SNP, increasing her majority to 10,234.

Labour were in second.

Full results here

Ivan McKee has won Glasgow Provan for the SNP with an increased majority of 7,230 over Labour.

Full results here

The SNP have held Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley with a reduced majority of 4,337.

Elena Whitham won the election for the SNP with the Tories in second.

Before the election the seat was held by Health Secretary Jeane Freeman, who retired at the end of the last parliament.

Full results here

Alex Salmond has congratulated Nicola Sturgeon "on her victory" in the Holyrood election but said the win comes with responsibility.

The former first minister and SNP leader, who now heads up the Alba party, said Ms Sturgeon had to "answer the questions of how you proceed with obduracy from Westminster" on independence.

Mr Salmond - who said his party was unlikely to win any seats - said the unionist parties were "smart" in tactical voting.

But he added:"The SNP unfortunately are sending their troops over the top and are piling up perhaps even a million list votes which will elect nobody".

Image source, PA Media

Stand by for a complicated few hours in Scotlandpublished at 14:35 British Summer Time 8 May 2021

14:35 BST 8 May 2021

Nick Eardley
Political correspondent

The next few hours will be a bit complicated in Scotland.

The system used is a form of proportional representation, split up between 73 constituencies and 56 regional seats (eight regions of seven MSPs).

The constituencies are first-past-the-post – like Westminster.

The regional seats are calculated using a formula. Every constituency you win makes it even harder to win on the list.

Image source, PA Media

So although the SNP picked up Ayr and East Lothian yesterday, that’s likely to have a knock on effect for their list seats in the South of Scotland. Only Edinburgh Central so far has been a definite net gain – where there’s no impact on the list because the SNP don’t have any list MSPs there.

Still following?

The regional list is where the Conservatives and Labour pick up the vast majority of their seats. For the Greens, it’s the only place.

But because the SNP win so many constituencies, they win very few on the list.

Today is likely to push pro-independence MSPs well over 65 when the Greens results come in.

If the SNP are going to get that alone, they’ll need some list MSPs, probably two or three.

Stephanie Callaghan has won Uddingston and Bellshill for the SNP with an increased majority of 5,306 over Labour.

Both the SNP and Labour increased their vote. The Conservatives share of the vote was down 3.2%.

Turnout was 61%, up by 9.5 percentage points.

Full results here