The country’s leading pollster, Professor Sir John Curtice, of Strathclyde University, predicted the SNP would fall one or two MSPs shy of the 65 majority mark. Ms Sturgeon, who lost the SNP’s majority in 2016 as her party fell from 69 to 63 MSPs, played down the prospect of recovering it, calling a majority a “very, very long shot”. She said: “That has always been on a knife-edge; a small number of votes in a small number of seats.” Ms Sturgeon campaigned on the basis of her experience and leading the country through the pandemic, and giving people the chance to vote in Indyref2 by 2024, Covid permitting, followed by independence in 2026. Her Unionist opponents said the economic recovery should take priority over the constitution.
Boris Johnson has set himself on course for a constitutional clash with Nicola Sturgeon if she pushes ahead with plans for a second Scottish independence referendum - which the PM has called irresponsible and reckless .
Counting continues in the Scottish parliamentary contest, with the SNP leader s hopes of achieving a majority on a knife edge, after a poll predicted the party could miss out by just one seat.
But it is still highly likely the SNP will win its fourth term in power at Holyrood, and Ms Sturgeon said when the time is right she will offer Scots the choice of a better future in a second independence referendum.
Updated: May 8, 2021, 11:37 pm
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Nicola Sturgeon’s SNP won a fourth term in government with 64 seats in the Scottish Parliament.
The party ended up one short of an outright majority in the 129-seat chamber.
After two days of counting, the results leave parliament with a pro-independence majority but not much change to the overall picture.
Conservatives under leader Douglas Ross ended up with 31 MSPs – the same as before the election.
Scottish election 2021 results: Who are the winners and losers in Holyrood now that count is done? scotsman.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from scotsman.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.