John Swinney among SNP winners in Perthshire and Dundee
PA MediaScotland's first minister and SNP leader John Swinney has held on to his seat in Perthshire North, and is among the clear SNP wins in the Tayside region.
Swinney emerged victorious with 16,414 votes, with Scottish Conservative veteran Murdo Fraser coming in second with 10,171.
Reform's Kenneth Morton placed third with 4,620 in a turnout of 58.1% - which is down 11.4 percentage points compared to the 2021 election.
Delivering his victory speech, Swinney said though the counts were at early stages, it was becoming clear the SNP was going to emerge as the largest party.
Elsewhere the SNP's Heather Anderson held the Dundee City West constituency seat with 12,722 votes, storming ahead of Labour's Michael Marra who received 6,365.
Reform's Arthur Keith placed third with 3,315. The turnout was 46.2%, down 10.5 percentage points.
On the other side of the city, the SNP's Stephen Gethins held Dundee City East with 12,969 votes, again with a lower voter turnout of 46.5%.
Labour's Cheryl-Ann Cruickshank received 4,792 while Reform's Mark Simpson got 4,135
In Perthshire South and Kinross-shire, the SNP's Jim Fairlie held his seat with 14,707 votes. Scottish Conservative Roz McCall received 9,646 and Reform's Helen McDade received 5,128 with a turnout of 58.9%.
And in Stirling, Alyn Smith of the SNP emerged victorious with 13,608 votes. He held the seat with Scottish Conservative Stephen Kerr receiving 6,166 votes and Labour's Kainde Manji on 5,124.
Turnout was again down at 58.1%.
Speaking to BBC Scotland News' election special programme after retaining his Holyrood seat, Swinney said he was confident the SNP would end up the largest party.
He said this was a reflection of the work his party had undertaken to rebuild public confidence and trust in the SNP.
"I'm delighted that we're looking at such an optimistic situation as the election results emerge," he said.
Presenter Martin Geissler asked if the SNP does not secure a majority of 65, would Swinney put independence to one side for five years.
Swinney replied he would wait to study the results of this election and look at the final makeup of the parliament.
However he said he was optimistic his party would get 65 seats.
Analysis: A precious win for Swinney
SNP leader John Swinney has said this election win is precious. That's because he's achieved his own mandate as leader of the party.
The last time he led the SNP more than 20 years ago, the men in grey kilts asked him to step down after he lost three elections in a row.
Shortly after taking over two years ago the SNP faced another defeat in the Westminster UK election.
But in this Holyrood campaign, the SNP will be the largest party, a success he describes as enormously significant.
