UK Edition
Nicola Sturgeon says she will 'reflect' on indy ref 2 as Alex Salmond and Angus Robertson lose seats to Tories
Ruth Davidson has said a second independence referendum is "dead" after Nicola Sturgeon said she would "reflect" on her demand in the wake of disastrous night for the SNP that saw her deputy and Alex Salmond lose their seats.
The First Minister said she would not make any “rash decisions” but pledged to “properly think about” whether to press ahead with her campaign for another separation vote, as the Tories enjoyed their best general election result in Scotland since 1983.
Ms Sturgeon insisted the SNP had won the election in Scotland as it had got the most seats but admitted she was “disappointed” by the party’s losses amid a fierce public backlash against her referendum demand.
However, Ms Davidson, the Scottish Tory leader, said the referendum had been killed off by the result and Ms Sturgeon had been punished for trying to ram through another separation vote.
The final tally was 35 seats for the SNP, 13 for the Tories, seven for Labour and four for the Liberal Democrats. The Nationalists won 56 seats at the last election, with the other three parties getting only one each. Ms Sturgeon's party lost nearly half a million votes compared to 2015, while the Tories put on more than 300,000 votes
The three Unionist parties claimed the scalps of a series of high-profile Nationalists during the night, and it appeared the Conservatives had pulled off the biggest shock of the night by ousting Angus Robertson in Moray.
However, the defeat of the SNP’s Westminster and deputy leader was eclipsed when the Tories defeated Mr Salmond in Gordon, a result that left many Nationalists stunned and distraught.
In a sensational night for Ms Davidson, the Conservatives registered double-digit increases in support in nearly every seat and overturned five-figure SNP majorities to take back constituencies they have not held for decades.
However, Labour also won a series of unexpected gains including Glasgow North East as the surge in support for Jeremy Corbyn spread north of the Border, with some Left-wing and pro-independence Scots deserting the SNP.
A series of the victorious candidates from all the Unionist parties said their victories sent a message to Ms Sturgeon to withdraw her demand for a second referendum. David Mundell, the Scottish Secretary, said: “The SNP bubble has burst.”
Speaking as she arrived at the Glasgow count, Ms Sturgeon said the election was a “disaster” for Theresa May and she would examine if a so-called ‘progressive alliance’ was possible with Jeremy Corbyn when she sees how the election “shakes out.”
Pressed on a second independence referendum, the First Minister said: “I’m not going to take any rash decisions. Clearly I have to reflect on the result of the election and I will take time to do that.
“But it would be the wrong thing for me to do at this hour, to take decisions before having had the opportunity to properly think about it but properly think about it I will certainly do."
Lauding on a “historic night”, Ms Davidson said: “There was one big issue in this campaign and that was Nicola Sturgeon trying to ram through a second independence referendum in March and the country’s reaction to that.
“We’ve seen the country’s reaction in the number of SNP seats that have fallen. Indy ref two is dead. That’s what’s happened tonight.”
Asked about Ms Sturgeon’s promise to “reflect” on the results, she said the First Minister was “astute enough” and knows the election result was worse than she was expecting.
“When she started the campaign, she came out of the blocks in week one saying that she was going to put independence at the heart of it,” Ms Davidson said.
“By the final week you couldn’t drag the word out of her mouth because it was such a drag on the ticket.”
She said Scots had rebelled against Ms Sturgeon’s attempts to “ram raid” through another referendum and expressed her hope that the result would mean Scotland’s political leaders could focus on public services instead.
Mr Salmond refused to blame the independence referendum demand for his defeat, instead blaming the Corbyn surge and a collapse in the Lib Dem vote in his former seat.
Although he won a majority of 8,687 at the 2015 election in the Gordon seat, the Tory vote increased by 29 points to give Colin Clark victory by 2,607 votes.
The former First Minister quoted a Jacobite song in his concession speech, saying: “You've not seen the last of my bonnet and me.”
In his victory speech, Mr Clark said: "The silent majority have spoken. We're proud to be part of the United Kingdom."
The Tories’ Douglas Ross overturned a majority of 9,065 to defeat Mr Robertson by 4,200 votes in Moray. There was a 13.6 per cent swing away from the SNP. The seat had been a key target, with the Tories desperate to defeat the SNP's Westminster leader.
Mr Ross said there had been a "very strong anti-independence vote here in Moray". He said: "The fact that Nicola Sturgeon has put that back on the agenda, and the SNP are obsessed with independence over the devolved issues they should be working on, worked against the SNP here in Moray."
Mr Robertson said: "I'm no longer going to be a member of parliament so I'm not going to play the same direct role. I'm confident the SNP is going to win the general election in Scotland and I wish my colleagues all the best."
Among the other senior Nationalists to unexpectedly lose their seats to the Tories were Mike Weir, the party’s chief whip, in Angus and Tasmina Ahmed Sheikh in Ochil and South Perthshire.
In another sensational Conservative victory, they overturned an SNP majority of more than 14,000 in Banff and Buchan, the constituency Mr Salmond represented before Gordon.
The Tories also took all three seats in the south of Scotland for the first time in 52 years and won constituencies including Stirling, Aberdeen South, East Renfrewshire and even Ayr, Carrick and Cumnock, with their vote increasing by 20 points compared to 2015.
In a series of further surprises, Labour won back from the SNP Gordon Brown’s former seat of Kirkcaldy, Midlothian and Rutherglen and Hamilton West, following huge swings away from the Nationalists.
Labour’s Ian Murray, the party’s only Scottish MP after the 2015 election, increased his majority to more than 10,000.
The SNP's John Nicolson lost Dunbartonshire East to the Liberal Democrats’ Jo Swinson, a former minister. The Lib Dems also won Edinburgh West and pulled off a coup of their own by ousting the SNP in Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross.
In a rare bright moment for the Nationalists, Pete Wishart unexpectedly managed to hold Perth and North Perthshire by only 21 votes from the Tories, following a recount.
The last seat not declare at 6.30am was North East Fife after three recounts. The SNP's Stephen Gethins held his seat by just two votes over the Liberal Democrats.