Image source, Reuters

Good morning and welcome to BBC Scotland’s continued live coverage of the Scottish Parliament 2021 election results.

We’ll be bringing you the final 25 constituency results as they are announced across the country today, with detailed analysis and reaction from around Scotland.

After all the constituency results are known, the winners from the regional lists will be declared.

Then we will be able to say for sure who has won the Scottish Parliament election 2021 - and whether they have a majority - as well as what the full party breakdown of seats will be.

So stick with us as the counts resume later this morning.

Image source, Getty Images

Here are the key results and developments from the first day of counting in the Scottish Parliament election:

• Three seats have changed hands - all of them won by the SNP. With 48 seats declared, the SNP have 39 MSPs, the Lib Dems four, the Conservatives three and Labour has two.
• The SNP's Angus Robertson had a big victory in Edinburgh Central, the seat previously held by Ruth Davidson - who is going to the House of Lords. He won with a majority of 4,732
• Earlier the SNP took East Lothian from Labour with a majority of 1,179 and unseated the veteran Conservative MSP John Scott in Ayr with a majority of 170

• The SNP's hopes of an overall majority were dealt a blow late in the day when Scottish Labour's Jackie Baillie held on to the most marginal constituency, Dumbarton, with an increased majority of 1,483. Daniel Johnson also won for Labour in Edinburgh Southern

• Former Scottish Conservative leader Jackson Carlaw increased his majority in Eastwood - another target seat for the SNP - as did Oliver Mundell in Dumfriesshire. Rachael Hamilton also held Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire for the Tories, although with a reduced majority
• The list results won't be finalised until Saturday, but from the few seats that have given details it seems the Greens are polling about 7% and Alba about 2%. Alba leader Alex Salmond conceded his party may not return any MSPs
• Nicola Sturgeon was returned in Glasgow Southside with a comfortable majority, just marginally down on last time. Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar came second, but he boosted Labour's share of the vote by 8.5%
• The Scottish Lib Dems retained all four of their constituency seats. Leader Willie Rennie increased his majority in North East Fife, as did Alex Cole-Hamilton in Edinburgh Western
• But there was disappointment for the Lib Dems in Caithness, Sutherland & Ross, which they failed to take from the SNP - and in Shetland their majority was cut to just 806 by a strong SNP challenge
• One common theme has been the high turnout which in many constituencies was nearly 10% up on the previous Holyrood vote
• Police were called at the Glasgow count when two members of the Liberal Party, a small party not affiliated to the Lib Dems, accosted the SNP's Humza Yousaf, questioning him about conditions for women and children in Pakistan. They wore yellow stars with "unvax" written on them and made military salutes as they were escorted away. The Liberal Party later apologised and suspended candidate Derek Jackson
• Labour candidate Pam Duncan-Glancy, who is a wheelchair user, said she was delayed entering the Glasgow counting venue because staff did not believe she was a candidate
• Some lighter moments of the day included an errant cat being ejected from the Orkney count - and the wife of victorious Airdrie and Shotts SNP candidate Neil Gray tweeting that he needed to pick up some milk

SNP hopes alive but majority 'not guaranteed'published at 21:43 British Summer Time 7 May 2021

21:43 BST 7 May 2021

Glenn Campbell
BBC Scotland Political Editor

Image source, EPA

The SNP is on course to win a fourth consecutive term in power at Holyrood, which is in itself a remarkable achievement.

Nicola Sturgeon’s party continues to resist political gravity after 14 years in office.

Hers is the only party to make gains so far - picking up East Lothian from Labour and Ayr and Edinburgh Central from the Conservatives.

Those gains keep alive the SNP’s hopes of an overall majority at Holyrood but as Ms Sturgeon herself has said that is certainly “not guaranteed”.

Gains in East Lothian and Ayr are likely to be offset by losses on the south of Scotland list because the more constituency seats a party wins in a region, the higher the threshold for them to win additional seats.

All 56 regional list seats will be declared on Saturday after the remaining constituencies, some of which could be very closely fought.

This contest is far from over.

The constitutional battle over indyref2 and the extensive power Holyrood has exercised during the Covid crisis may have helped to convince voters this election really matters.

Turnout is up across the country and may be the highest yet for a Holyrood election.

Curtice: The evidence of tactical voting by unionistspublished at 21:30 British Summer Time 7 May 2021

21:30 BST 7 May 2021

Professor Sir John Curtice
Polling expert

Here is the evidence on the extent of tactical voting in Scotland.

In seats where the Conservatives started off in second place to the SNP, the party's vote has been up by 3.5 points, while it is down by one point in seats where Labour were second to the SNP.

At the same time, the Conservative vote is up by two points in seats that the Conservatives were defending, while its vote has fallen by eight points in those that Labour was defending.

Meanwhile, Labour support is down by two points in seats where the Conservatives started off in second, but up by one point in places where Labour was second to SNP.

Labour's vote is up by five points in seats it was defending against the SNP, while its vote was down by seven points in places where the Conservatives were defending against the SNP.

Thus the tactical voting has been strongest in seats that the unionist parties were trying to defend and played an important role in enabling a number of marginal opposition-held seats to be successfully defended.

It has been more muted in seats where the opposition were trying to challenge the SNP, who have not suffered a single constituency loss in this election.

Has there been progress on Holyrood's gender imbalance?published at 21:24 British Summer Time 7 May 2021

21:24 BST 7 May 2021

Lynsey Bews
BBC Scotland political correspondent

Scotland’s political parties have been under pressure to address the gender imbalance at Holyrood. In 2016 only 35% of MSPs elected were women.

So will that change in 2021? Well, so far, of the constituencies that have declared, the gender split is close to 50:50. And that’s partly due to some new faces.

Eleven new MSPs have been elected so far – although several have served as MPS, most notably the former SNP Westminster leader Angus Robertson, now MSP for Edinburgh Central.

The SNP's Clare Adamson has held Motherwell Wishaw with an increased majority of 7,813 over Labour.

That's a swing of 0.8% from Labour to the SNP.

Turnout was up, reflecting the picture across Scotland.

A candidate who confronted the SNP's Humza Yousaf and made offensive gestures has been suspended by his party.

The Liberal Party's candidate, Derek Jackson, and others had questioned Mr Yousaf about the treatment of women and children in Pakistan.

Police arrived at the scene and men, who are not affiliated to the Liberal Democrats, asked to leave the count.

The Liberal Party has issued a statement saying Mr Jackson's membership has been suspended with immediate effect and that it is working with Police Scotland regarding the matter.

It said it did not in any way endorse his actions and was sorry for any offence Mr Jackson may have caused.

After holding his Eastwood seat for the Conservatives, Jackson Carlaw tells the BBC News Channel that the focus will be on the SNP to successfully deliver the domestic agenda in Scotland.

And if they do not, he says: "We will be standing there rigorously opposing them.

"We have got a detailed policy prospectus which will be the basis of the constructive opposition that we offer with a view to ensuring the SNP are in their final term of office and that Scotland in due course has an alternative government and an alternative future."

Curtice: Dumbarton result makes SNP majority unlikelypublished at 20:45 British Summer Time 7 May 2021

20:45 BST 7 May 2021

Professor Sir John Curtice
Polling expert

Jackie Baillie's successful defence of her Dumbarton constituency means it is now unlikely that the SNP will achieve an overall majority in the new Holyrood parliament.

Her success looks as though it has been assisted by a squeeze on the third place Conservatives.

Unionist tactical voting seems to have played a key role in denying the SNP their majority in this election.

Labour's Jackie Baillie has held what was Scotland's most marginal seat.

Ms Baillie increased her majority from 109 to 1,483, a majority of 3.9%.

The SNP came second and the Tories a distant third.

There was a swing of of 1.8% from the SNP to Labour, and a turnout of 68.1%.

Full results here.

The SNP's Kenneth Gibson has held Cunninghame North with a reduced majority of 7,786 over the Scottish Conservatives.

That's a swing of 3.2% from the SNP to the Tories.

Full results here.

Glenn Campbell
BBC Scotland Political Editor

Dumbarton is the most interesting constituency which is still to declare today.

The Labour-held seat is the most marginal in the whole country.

I think it is going to be really tight this time. We heard Jackie Baillie, the defending MSP, say it was too close to call.

The numbers I am hearing are of a majority you could count on your fingers and toes.

Whether it is a Labour majority or an SNP majority, who knows?

David Torrance has held Kirkcaldy for the SNP with an increased majority of 7,831 over Labour.

The turnout increased, as it did everywhere in Scotland.

Full results here.

One result we won't see tonight is Aberdeenshire East.

Counting will resume at 09:00.

Aberdeenshire Council said staff had done an "outstanding job" under very different circumstances from previous elections, given the Covid protocols.

Former First Minister Alex Salmond has said he does not think his Alba party will win any seats at Holyrood.

Speaking on BBC Scotland, he said: "Whether we'll make it tomorrow, I don't think so on the results we've seen."

The former first minister argued that his new party had put up a "good substantial show".

"We take out of this election that the arguments we've been putting forward will be proved correct - independence will be front and centre," he said.

He also argued that many list votes for the SNP were a waste, and said people should have voted more tactically.

Eastwood win for Conservatives hits SNP majority chancespublished at 19:42 British Summer Time 7 May 2021

19:42 BST 7 May 2021

Professor Sir John Curtice
Polling expert

The successful Conservative defence of Eastwood significantly reduces the SNP's chances of winning an overall majority.

This appeared to be among the more likely places where the SNP might win one of the key opposition marginal seats that were left to declare.

The Scottish Conservatives have held Eastwood, a major target for the SNP.

Jackson Carlaw retained the seat with an increased majority of 2,216.

Labour were down 15% in third.

Turnout here is a whopping 76.2%.

Full results here.

Labour's Jackie Baillie has arrived at the Clydebank Leisure Centre ahead of the Dumbarton declaration.

She has held the seat since 1999. But won by just 109 votes in 2016.

The latest results and key developments from the count:

• Three seats have changed hands - all won by the SNP. Angus Robertson triumphed in Edinburgh Central, the seat formerly held by Ruth Davidson, with a majority of 4,732.
• Earlier, the SNP took East Lothian from Labour with a majority of 1,179 and they beat the Conservatives in Ayr by 170 votes, the tightest result so far.
• With 43 seats declared, the SNP have 36 MSPs, the Lib Dems four and the Conservatives two
• Nicola Sturgeon was comfortably elected in Glasgow Southside, her vote just slightly down on last time. Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar came second, increasing his party's share of the vote by 8.5%
• Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Willie Rennie was happy with a "stonking" win in North East Fife and there was also an increased majority for fellow Lib Dem Alex Cole-Hamilton in Edinburgh Western.
• The Lib Dems held on to all four of their constituency seats but failed to take Caithness, Sutherland and Ross from the SNP, and their majority in Shetland was slashed to just 806 by the SNP.

• The Scottish Conservatives have two MSPs so far - Rachael Hamilton was well ahead of her nearest rival in Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire although with a reduced majority, while Oliver Mundell increased his majority in Dumfriesshire.
• The Tories came a close second in Banffshire and Buchan Coast, trailing the SNP by just 772 votes.
• There was disappointment for Labour in Rutherglen where the controversy over the former SNP MP Margaret Ferrier failed to translate into a win over the SNP's Clare Haughey.
• The full list vote results won't emerge until Saturday but in the small number of constituencies which have given details, Alex Salmond's Alba party is polling about 2% and the Greens 7%
• Deputy First Minister John Swinney and Finance Secretary Kate Forbes were both returned with increased majorities. Ms Forbes took 56.1% of the vote in Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch

• Ms Sturgeon told the BBC she felt "pretty happy" with the results so far. She says a comfortable SNP win "is certain", even if it remains unclear if she'll command an overall majority

The SNP's Kevin Stewart has held Aberdeen Central with an increased majority of 6,594 over the Conservatives.

Labour slipped to third.

There was a swing of just 0.1% from the SNP to the Conservatives. Mr Stewart increased his majority from 16.3% to 20.8%.

Full results here