John Swinney declared the SNP has “emphatically” won the election, and a fifth term in power in Scotland, as Labour and the Tories look to have recorded their worst results at Holyrood.
With Labour also suffering losses south of the border, Mr Swinney said that under-pressure Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has a “lot of listening to do”, and called for respect between the two governments.
At the seventh Holyrood election the SNP was easily returned as the largest party, but Mr Swinney failed to win the overall majority he had wanted in a bid to force a second independence referendum.
With all but seven seats declared, the SNP had 57 MSPs, with Labour in second on 17, narrowly ahead of Reform UK on 15.
The Scottish Greens recorded their best Holyrood election result, with 13 MSPs so far, while the Scottish Liberal Democrats had nine MSPs
Meanwhile Scottish Labour and the Conservatives may have returned their worst Holyrood results – with the Tories having 11 MSPs elected so far.
Reform won its first MSPs, all of them elected via the regional list system, and Scottish leader Lord Malcolm Offord was voted in as an MSP for the West of Scotland after losing out in the Inverclyde constituency.
There were suggestions that votes for Reform had helped the SNP in areas such as Eastwood, outside Glasgow, where Mr Swinney’s party won the seat from the Tories.
The SNP also picked up the Shetland constituency from the Liberal Democrats, who had held the seat since the first Holyrood elections in 1999.
Elsewhere, SNP Westminster leader Stephen Flynn, and fellow MP Stephen Gethins, are both set to swap London for Edinburgh, after being elected to Holyrood.
But the party lost its campaign director Angus Robertson, who had also been constitution, external affairs and culture secretary in the Scottish Government, when his revised Edinburgh Central seat was captured by the Greens.
Speaking after winning a mandate to be returned as First Minister, Mr Swinney said the relationship between the Scottish Government and UK Government had “soured” over recent months.
“I’d like to enjoy a more co-operative relationship with the United Kingdom Government,” he said.
Adding that Labour had “just been hammered in Scotland”, Mr Swinney said: “I hope that lesson is learned in Downing Street that there’s now got to be respect for the Scottish Government exercised by the UK Government.”
He continued: “My message to Downing Street tonight is very, very clear – they have got a lot of listening to do to the fact that Labour have been hammered here in Scotland and an SNP Government, after 19 years in office, has just been emphatically returned to office, and Scotland needs respect as a consequence of that election outcome.”
Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar admitted his party was “hurting” after the result.
But he indicated he would not be stepping down as party leader.
pic.twitter.com/Sv2kj3TwDU
— Anas Sarwar (@AnasSarwar) May 8, 2026
Speaking in Glasgow earlier on Friday Mr Sarwar said: “My party is hurting – we’re disappointed.
“We advocate for change, we didn’t win that argument, but it’s my job to hold us together and that’s a job I intend to do.”
Scottish Tory leader Russell Findlay meanwhile said that “given the national backdrop and the historically good result we achieved in 2021”, his party was “always likely to lose seats this time around”.
He said he was “pleased” Tories had retained the “bulk” of their constituencies, but continued: “I’m disappointed to have lost so many excellent parliamentary colleagues.
“We warned repeatedly during the campaign that Reform were a gift to the SNP – and so it’s proved.
“Despite not winning a single constituency seat, Reform have let the SNP sneak home in several constituencies they would otherwise have lost.”
Lorna Slater, the first constituency MSP for the Scottish Greens, said it had been a “fantastic day” for her party.
Her defeated opponent Mr Robertson said boundary changes in the constituency had been a “significant contributory factor”.
But he added: “At the end of the day what matters most is who gets the most votes, and that wasn’t me.”
Scottish Green co-leader Gillian Mackay hailed the “seismic result” for her party that she said would “change our politics and change Scotland”.
She said: “Scotland has elected a record number of Green MSPs, and I couldn’t be prouder of our new team.
“We have won our first constituencies and, for the first time, everyone in our country is represented by at least one Scottish Green MSP.”