SNP dominates west of Scotland as Labour struggles in heartlands

Nearly every seat across the West of Scotland has stayed yellow as the SNP swept to victory throughout the likes of Glasgow, Ayrshire, Lanarkshire and Renfrewshire.

One of the few exceptions came in Glasgow Southside - formerly the seat of Nicola Sturgeon - where Holly Bruce scored a stunning victory for the Scottish Greens.

Labour party stalwart Jackie Baillie held on to the Dumbarton seat she has held since the Scottish parliament was first formed in 1999 but it was an otherwise grim day for the party in its traditional heartlands.

They were pushed into third place in some seats, including placing behind Reform in Glasgow Baillieston and Shettleston.

A number of big Labour names - including leader Anas Sarwar - saw no route to success in areas the party used to expect comfortable victories in.

He was well beaten in Glasgow Cathcart and Pollok, taking 9,107 votes to the SNP's Zen Ghani's total of 14,270

But Sarwar was later returned to Holyrood as a regional list MSP, along with Pauline McNeill and Paul Sweeney.

It was a far cry from scenes at the Emirates Arena two years ago, when Labour won every seat at the general election and party members were jubilant.

There were no such troubles for the SNP's big hitters, with housing minister Màiri McAllan going back to Holyrood with a comfortable majority of more than 4,000 after winning her Clydesdale constituency.

In a role reversal of 2024, the SNP's Alison Thewliss, who was in tears after losing her Westminster seat then, was seen crying again - but with tears of joy after securing the Glasgow Central seat with a majority of just under 10,000.

There was also jubilation in Glasgow for the Scottish Greens, where Holly Bruce, a councillor in the city, took Glasgow Southside with a majority of 3,101 (8.1%) over former SNP minister Kaukab Stewart.

Bruce told BBC Scotland News the victory felt surreal.

She added: "We've been knocking our pan in on the southside and now we're seeing that pay off."

The Glasgow regional list vote gave the Greens another two MSPs - former party leader Patrick Harvie and Iris Duane who becomes one of Scotland's first transgender parliamentarians.

Co-leader Ross Greer secured his return when the results of the west Scotland regional vote were announced.

Glasgow Southside was one of only a handful seats on the west of the country to actually change hands.

The SNP snatched Eastwood away from the Scottish Conservatives, with Kirsten Oswald edging out Jackson Carlaw by 12,772 votes to 11,990.

However, the SNP lost Strathkelvin and Bearsden - an area which has often switched hands at elections - to the Liberal Democrats

Adam Hurley saw a huge upswing in votes for his party, with an increase of about 9,000 votes from the last election pushing him to victory.

The Lib Dems also enjoyed a lift in votes in Argyll and Bute, but fell short of upsetting the SNP there, with Jenni Minto retaining it for the nationalists.

Notable Labour figures who lost out included Monica Lennon, who has held a number of front bench posts for the party. She came second to Clare Haughey in Rutherglen and Cambuslang and failed to secure election via the regional list.

Having won the Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse seat last year with 8,559 votes, Davy Russell increased his tally to 9,120 but still lost to the SNP's Alex Kerr, who had 11,825 votes.

There were emotional scenes at the count in East Kilbride following that result, with SNP volunteers in tears - the seat was for many years the home of Christina McKelvie, a much-loved figure in the party who died last year.

However, the SNP did not manage to wrestle Dumbarton away from Baillie, who is one of only three MSPs to have contested the same seat at every election since 1999, with John Swinney and Fergus Ewing the others.

She edged out the SNP's Sophie Traynor by 12,747 votes to 10,961 and told BBC Scotland that Labour needed to take lessons from the results.

The deputy leader said Sarwar should remain in charge, but was critical of Keir Starmer's government, suggesting decisions at Westminster had an adverse impact on the Scottish party.

She said: "We were drowned out by a national wave coming from elsewhere and we didn't really get a hearing as a result of that."

The result means Dumbarton remains the only Scottish Parliament constituency to have only ever voted Labour since devolution began.

It was an even worse night for the Conservative party, who saw their vote crumble while Reform - who did not stand in most seats in 2021 - hoovered up their vote share.

In Paisley the party vote tumbled so badly it fell to three figures (940), while Sandesh Gulhane, who was the party's health spokesman at Holyrood, finished rock bottom in the Glasgow Anniesland constituency with only 1,404 votes - over 3,000 behind Reform.

Party leader Russell Findlay made it back to Holyrood thanks to the regional list, but having lost his constituency seat, former leader Jackson Carlaw also failed to become a list MSP.

Sandesh Gulhane and Pam Gosal were among other Tory list candidates who failed to make the cut.

However, Reform's dreams of a breakthrough surprise victory did not occur.

Malcolm Offord, the party leader in Scotland, was unsuccessful in his attempt to win the Inverclyde constituency, coming third with 5,649 votes.

He trailed both Labour and the SNP's Stuart McMillan, who won with 14,193 votes.

His place at Holyrood was later secured via the west Scotland regional list.

The party did take second place in some constituencies.

Thomas Kerr, a former Tory councillor who became one of Reform's most prominent figures in the media, took second place in Glasgow Baillieston and Shettleston and claimed 26% of the vote share.

As with Lord Offord, the regional list vote later ensured Kerr became an Reform MSP.