Early list vote results indicate Conservatives second biggest partypublished at 19:29 British Summer Time 7 May 2021

19:29 BST 7 May 2021

Professor Sir John Curtice
Polling expert

So far the list results have been declared for 10 of Scotland's constituencies.

These show that the SNP list vote is seven points down on its constituency vote, though that gap is less than anticipated by the opinion polls, and might yet be enough to enable the party to pick up a key list seat in the Highlands.

The Greens are so far only running at 7% of the vote, up by two points on the results in the same constituencies last time. This is somewhat less of an increase than anticipated by the polls.

Meanwhile, as anticipated by the opinion polls, it is looking as though the Conservatives will be well ahead of Labour on the list vote, even if the two parties are close in their share of the vote in the constituencies. That should be enough to ensure the Conservatives remain the second largest party at Holyrood.

To date the Alba party is running at just 2% and it seems highly unlikely that it is going to gain any representation.

In the constituencies, Labour's highly successful defence of Edinburgh Southern is not surprising given the way that the party has consolidated itself in this seat at Westminster level.

It is again clear that Conservative vote switched to Labour to keep SNP out in fairly spectacular fashion.

Labour has won its first seat of the day by holding Edinburgh Southern - one of just three constituency seats it won in 2016.

Daniel Johnson increased his majority over the SNP by almost 3,000.

The turnout was nearly 71%.

Full results here

BBC Scotland political journalist Kirsten Campbell explains what the next steps will be for those who've become members of the Scottish Parliament.

Every new MSP will receive an email from the parliament's chief executive David McGill. It explains some of the working of their new job.

They are invited to the Scottish Parliament on Monday or Tuesday and given a tour and an induction to learn how the voting system works, how to table motions and parliamentary questions.

They will learn employment rules because they will become employers, sometimes for the first time, as they take on research staff and caseworkers.

They will be told about allowances and expenses.

And all this before they are sworn in as MSPs and can start the job they were elected to do.

Ruth Maguire has won Cunninghame South for the SNP with an increased majority of 7,952 over Labour.

The swing of 2.1% is from Labour to the SNP.

Turnout, as everywhere in Scotland, has ignored the weather and is up.

Full results here

Angus Robertson's victory speech thanks the usual suspects, including the people at the counts and the police.

"This result is an emphatic and an unparalleled victory for the SNP in Edinburgh Central," he said.

"We have just won the seat of the former leader of the Scottish Conservatives and recorded the best ever SNP result."

Mr Robertson says the people have spoken and they say that "Scotland's future should be in Scotland's hands".

He argues that all the parties who want to block indyref2 have been rejected.

Edinburgh Central takes SNP closer to targetpublished at 19:03 British Summer Time 7 May 2021

19:03 BST 7 May 2021

Professor Sir John Curtice
Polling expert

The SNP victory in Edinburgh Central, widely anticipated in the wake of Ruth Davidson's decision to stand down, means the SNP are now half way to their target of winning six marginal constituency seats in order to get to 65 seats.

The SNP's Colin Beattie has won Midlothian North and Musselburgh with an increased majority of 7,906.

Labour came second after a swing of 0.9% from the SNP.

Mr Beattie's majority increases in terms of votes, but the percentage drops.

Full results here

Both sides aim to validate independence viewspublished at 19:02 British Summer Time 7 May 2021

19:02 BST 7 May 2021

Rajdeep Sandhu
Political Correspondent, BBC Scotland's The Nine

Like many past elections, on the issue of the constitution both sides are likely to highlight results which validate their argument on independence.

We've heard some of the early mutterings on this.

The SNP, which looks set to be the largest party again, will say high turnout gives the overall result extra legitimacy. It will argue this only strengthens its mandate for another referendum.

But on the other side of the argument unionists will push back.

They will likely argue that even with higher turnout, the balance of opinion hasn't shifted enough and point out signs of tactical voting in attempts to oust SNP candidates in some constituencies. Those arguments will be harder to make if the SNP win an outright majority.

Ultimately, it shows a country still deeply divided over its future.

Former SNP MP Angus Robertson has taken the Edinburgh Central seat from the Conservatives.

It was previously held by Ruth Davidson, the former Scottish Tory leader who is going to the House of Lords.

Mr Robertson had a majority of 4,732 and increased the SNP vote by 10% of the share after a swing of 6.6% from the Conservatives to the SNP.

His majority vastly outstrips the narrow win by Ruth Davidson at the last election.

Conservatives put squeeze on SNP and Labour in Dumfriesshirepublished at 18:53 British Summer Time 7 May 2021

18:53 BST 7 May 2021

Professor Sir John Curtice
Polling expert

Dumfriesshire is another of the SNP's potential targets, but this is one seat that has not gone the party's way.

That still leaves them needing to make four gains in the constituencies to reach the 65 mark on the constituencies alone.

There has seemingly been a substantial squeeze on the third-placed Labour vote, which has taken the Conservatives over the line.

The SNP's Fergus Ewing has held Inverness and Nairn with a slightly reduced majority of 9,114.

The Conservatives' Edward mountain came second with a share of the vote that increased by 8%, after a swing of 4.2% to the Tories.

Fergus is the second Ewing to be elected to Holyrood today. His sister Annabelle won the Cowdenbeath seat earlier in the day.

Full results here

The Scottish Conservatives' Oliver Mundell has held the seat of Dumfriesshire.

He had an increased majority of 4,066 and his share of the vote rose by 10%.

The SNP's Joan McAlpine came second after a 3.3% swing from her party to the Tories.

The turnout rose by nearly 6%.

Full results here

Eurosceptic Moray stays with SNPpublished at 18:44 British Summer Time 7 May 2021

18:44 BST 7 May 2021

Professor Sir John Curtice
Polling expert

Despite suggestions to the contrary, in the event, the SNP have held the relatively Eurosceptic seat of Moray fairly comfortably.

This means it is still just the opposition-held marginal seats that stand between the SNP and an overall majority.

Lib Dems succeed in holding constituency seatspublished at 18:36 British Summer Time 7 May 2021

18:36 BST 7 May 2021

Professor Sir John Curtice
Polling expert

Alex Cole-Hamilton's success in Edinburgh Western means that although the Liberal Democrats are heading for another relatively lacklustre performance, the party has succeeded in holding all four of its constituency seats.

Richard Lochhead has held Moray for the SNP with an increased majority of 3,164 over the Conservatives.

Mr Lochhead will be celebrating his victory at home because he is voluntarily self-isolating.

There was a small swing of 0.5% from the SNP to the Tories.

Full results here

In breaking news, the Gray family will have milk for tea!

Neil Gray became somewhat incommunicado on winning his seat at Holyrood to represent Airdrie & Shotts.

So much so, his wife Karlie was forced to use the power of social media to remind him of the real priorities today.

The SNP's Stuart McMillan has won the Greenock and Inverclyde seat with a slightly reduced majority of 8,174.

Mr McMillan got 54.2% of the vote.

Labour were second after a swing from the SNP of 1.7%.

Turnout increased to 63.4%.

Full results here

Alex Cole-Hamilton has held on to Edinburgh Western for the Lib Dems.

He increased his majority by almost 7,000 and his share of the vote was up 12.8 percentage points.

There was a swing of 6.8% from the SNP, who came second, to the Lib Dems.

Mr Cole-Hamilton's majority increased from 7.4% to 21.1%.

Full results here

Image source, Getty Images

Issues with getting into her count are the exact reason Labour candidate Pam Duncan-Glancy wants to become an MSP.

The wheelchair user was refused entry to the Emirates Arena when managers did not believe she was a candidate.

She told the BBC One results programme: "It's one of the reasons we need more disabled people in parliament. Attitudes need to change, access needs to change and disabled people need to be in the room in order to make decisions so that things like that don't happen again."

Conservative candidate Jeremy Balfour agrees, as one of the only MSPs with a disability in the last Scottish Parliament.

"Across all our parties we need to see more disabled people in parliament," he said. "In Scotland 20% of the population has some kind of disability and yet it is totally unrepresented.

"I would welcome any individuals from all parties who have any disability and I hope there can be some kind of consensus around these issues so that whoever forms the next government can take that forward."

What are the marginal seats in this election?published at 18:12 British Summer Time 7 May 2021

18:12 BST 7 May 2021

Question from J Logan

Philip Sim
BBC Scotland political correspondent

There are 10 seats in this election which had a majority under 5% in 2016, and thus are very much in play in 2021.

Nine of them are SNP targets – and they have already taken those in East Lothian and Ayr. The others include Labour’s defences in Dumbarton and Edinburgh Southern, and a raft of Conservative seats in places like Edinburgh Central and Eastwood.

Seats like Dumbarton and Aberdeenshire West are particularly crucial – because they are places where the SNP does not currently have any list seats, meaning there is no risk of the party losing a regional list seat to cancel out the gains.

You can submit your questions for BBC political correspondent Philip Sim using the button at the top of this page