THE SNP have seen sweeping losses to Labour across Scotland as votes cast in the General Election were counted up.
First Minister John Swinney’s party lost all of their seats in Glasgow and Edinburgh, and also saw a surprise loss in Stirling.
Swinney said: “There will have to be a lot of soul searching as a party as a consequence of these results that have come in tonight.”
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Swinney said the SNP has to be “better at governing on behalf of the people of Scotland,” adding that the party was not “winning the argument” on Scottish independence.
He said: “Although we’re going to have a bad election result tonight, I still believe in my head and in my heart that Scotland will be better off as an independent country.
“But we’re obviously not winning that argument with the public to make that a priority at this moment, so we’ve got to think long and hard about how we address that question and I don’t think that in the early hours of the morning after a General Election I can give you the definitive answer to what we do in that circumstance.”
So, what will the “soul searching” for the SNP need to entail?
With Labour’s eyes set on victory at the 2026 Holyrood election, how can the SNP hold on to power in Edinburgh?
What went wrong in the General Election campaign, and what can the SNP do differently moving forward?
We want to hear from you, our subscribers. What are your views on all of these questions?
We’ll look to publish some of the most thoughtful responses in a long-read article to start the conversation about where the SNP goes next.
You can let us know your views here.
Thank you.
