STEPHEN Flynn has held his seat against a challenge from a Labour candidate who admitted to helping the Tory campaign against the SNP in 2019.
The SNP’s Westminster leader looks set to be leading a smaller group of MPs after this election, with the party seeming certain to have lost its third-party status.
But Flynn saw off Labour’s Tauqeer Malik (below), who took 11,455 votes to the SNP man’s 15,213.
Speaking at the count in Aberdeen, Flynn said the SNP were going to be “beat in Scotland and we are going to be beat well”.
There had been speculation earlier in the night that Flynn could lose his seat, which former first minister Nicola Sturgeon said would have laid a path for him to become SNP leader.
He said: “It is quite clear to all of us that the Scottish National Party is having a difficult night.
“We are experiencing something that we have not experienced for quite some time.
“We are going to be beat in Scotland and we are going to be beat well. So, now is the time where we must learn and we must listen, we must listen to what the people of Scotland have told us.”
He added: “But when you are knocked down, you have to get back up and when you get back up, you must be willing to inspire.
“You must be bold in your action and you must be committed to the values which you hold dear.
“My colleagues and I who are returned to Westminster will continue to put Scotland's interests first to serve the people of Scotland and hopefully regain the trust that has been lost at this election.”
It comes amid a slew of losses in seats declared so far in Scotland, with the party suffering defeats across the country including in both Paisley seats, West Dunbartonshire and Kilmarnock.
Other big losses include East Lothian, Midlothian, East Kilbride and Falkirk which have all gone Labour red.
