Election 2017: Key SNP politicians ousted in general election
- Published
The SNP has lost a number of key politicians, on a night where both Scottish Labour and the Scottish Conservatives made gains.
Alex Salmond
Former First Minister Alex Salmond was the biggest Scottish parliamentarian to fall.
The former first minster was the biggest name to face defeat in the June 8 election. Alex Salmond led the SNP for a decade, and as first minister brought Scotland to the brink of independence in 2014.
After Scotland voted to stay within the Union, he stood down as leader, but did not stay out of the spotlight for long. He successfully stood in the Gordon constituency in 2015 as the SNP gained all but three Scottish seats. Perhaps the most influential person in recent Scottish political history, he spent 30 years as a parliamentarian.
Angus Robertson
Mr Robertson (with yellow rosette) was defeated by Douglas Ross, who has been a Conservative MSP
Angus Robertson had represented Moray at Westminster for 16 years, and was the SNP's leader in the House of Commons.
He became one of the party's most high-profile members thanks to the role he played at Prime Minister's Questions. He was often credited for holding Theresa May to account more successfully than Jeremy Corbyn.
He was defeated by former MSP Douglas Ross of the Scottish Conservatives who overturned a majority of more than 9,000.
John Nicolson
John Nicolson had been MP for the constituency since 2015
Former broadcaster John Nicolson was defeated by Jo Swinson, for the Liberal Democrats. He took the East Dunbartonshire seat from her two years ago.
Before becoming a politician in 2015, he was a one-time presenter on BBC Breakfast as well as a reporter on Newsnight and Panorama. He was the SNP's shadow Culture spokesman in the House of Commons.
Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh
Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh previously stood for the Scottish Conservatives.
Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh entered parliament in 2015 as an SNP politician, but she had previously stood for the Scottish Conservatives in the Scottish Parliament before briefly having been a member of the Labour Party. Before her election she worked as a lawyer, and remains a partner in a Glasgow firm.
While in the House of Commons, she was prominent in calling for the UK to respond to the Syrian refugee crisis, and campaigning on equality issues. She acted as the SNP's Westminster trade spokesperson.
George Kerevan
George Kerevan lost his seat to Scottish Labour after two years.
George Kerevan had been MP for East Lothian since his election in the 2015 SNP landslide. He had worked as a journalist and academic for many years before entering politics. He defected to the SNP from the Labour Party in the 1990s and spent 12 years on Edinburgh Council.
He remained as an occasional columnist for pro-independence newspaper The National while in parliament.