Counting under way in Holyrood election as SNP eyes fifth consecutive win

Counting is under way in the Scottish Parliament election after voters went to the polls on Thursday.

Results will start coming through from declaration centres across the country from about lunchtime on Friday – with John Swinney’s SNP hoping for a record-breaking fifth consecutive win.

Scottish Labour will be hoping they can buck the trend which has seen the party lose hundreds of council seats in local government elections in England.

The Senedd election in Wales also looks likely to go badly for Labour, with expectations the party will be out of power in Cardiff for the first time in the history of devolution.

In Scotland, the full picture of the results should be clear some time on Friday evening – with 129 seats in Holyrood up for grabs.

The results of those contests will determine if SNP leader John Swinney retains his job as Scotland’s First Minister.

Under Holyrood’s proportional representation system, 73 MSPs are elected for constituency seats across the country, with a further 56 elected on eight regional list ballots.

Speaking just before counting go under way, former Scottish finance secretary Shona Robison – who did not stand for re-election – said the SNP is “optimistic that we’ll win the election for the fifth time in a row, which would be absolutely unprecedented”.

Speaking on BBC Radio Scotland’s Breakfast, she added: “We have fought hard in this campaign and have fought for every single vote – and we need to see what that adds up to today.”

Liz Lloyd, who was the chief of staff for Nicola Sturgeon when she was first minister, said the SNP could finish the election 30 seats ahead of their nearest rival.

Highlighting that Mr Swinney took over the top job just two years ago, she told the same programme the difference in the party between now and then “is quite remarkable”.

Ms Lloyd said: “The transformation John Swinney has taken the party on, steadying the ship, reviving the entire campaigning machinery of the SNP, to get to the point where even if they don’t get the majority, where they are winning a fifth term, where he is winning his first mandate as first minister, it’s a huge thing.

“I don’t think anyone in the SNP if they fall a few short of a majority will think somehow they have failed, if they have won the election in that manner.”

Former Scottish Labour communications director Alan Roden meanwhile said Anas Sarwar and his party had been “dealt a very challenging hand” in the Holyrood campaign.

Also speaking on BBC Scotland’s Breakfast programme, he said: “The primary challenge is the deep unpopularity of Keir Starmer and his Government in Westminster.”

While Mr Roden said he expects Scottish Labour to have the “best result” for the party in the United Kingdom, he added: “Undoubtedly it is going to be a challenging day.”

Labour has also been facing a challenge from the rising popularity of Reform UK – with Nigel Farage’s party set to win its first ever group of MSPs.

If the party, led in Scotland by Lord Malcolm Offord does well, it could finish the day as the second largest party in the Scottish Parliament.

The Liberal Democrats and the Greens are also hoping to make gains, while the Tories, according to the polls, could return their worst ever Holyrood result since devolution.

Published: 08/05/2026 by Radio NewsHub