Nicola Sturgeon said it was “not impossible” that the SNP could win a majority in the Scottish Parliament election, as the party made gains from its rivals in key seats.
Ms Sturgeon’s party captured the seats of Ayr and Edinburgh Central from the Tories, with former SNP Westminster leader Angus Robertson gaining the seat in the capital which had previously been held by the Conservative Holyrood leader Ruth Davidson.
The SNP also gained East Lothian from Labour, while Jackie Baillie, Scottish Labour’s deputy leader who is fighting to retain her Dumbarton seat, said it was “too close to call” there.
Voting in Scotland’s strangest election since devolution has ended, with the results expected in the next few days.
Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the counting of votes for the 2021 Holyrood election will take place over a number of days, with all results expected to be declared by Saturday evening.
Counting usually begins immediately after the polls close at 10pm and continues overnight, with results declared in the early hours.
But the need for social distancing among count staff has meant votes will be tallied from Friday morning.
A ballot box breaks open as it arrives at the P&J Live/TECA in Aberdeen (Andrew Milligan/PA)
Nicola Sturgeon has said voters showed that racists and fascists are “not welcome anywhere in Scotland” after two far-right candidates picked up less than 200 votes and one was ejected from the count.
Glasgow Southside independent candidate Jayda Fransen confronted the SNP leader and First Minister during the campaign on Thursday, accusing her of supporting “mass immigration” and “Marxism”.
But the former deputy leader of Britain First won just 46 votes in the poll for the Scottish Parliament.
Liberal Party candidate Derek Jackson, who arrived at the count with supporters wearing black suits, yellow stars and armbands, picked up 102 votes.
Nicola Sturgeon delivers her speech on stage after retaining her seat (Jane Barlow/PA)
SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon has said she wants to hold a referendum on Scottish independence “when the time is right”, as she retained her Glasgow seat.
Giving an acceptance speech in Glasgow after she defeated Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar by 19,735 votes to 10,279, the First Minister said her party is set for a fourth term in power.
Earlier, she had played down the likelihood of an overall SNP majority at Holyrood, saying it has “always been a very, very long shot”.
After being re-elected to her seat, Ms Sturgeon said: “If that is indeed the outcome of this election, I pledge today to get back to work immediately to continue to steer the country through the crisis of Covid, to continue to lead this country into recovery from Covid.
It’s election day with a difference as polling stations operate under coronavirus restrictions across Great Britain.
On what has been dubbed Super Thursday, polling stations opened at 7am in the largest test of political opinion outside a general election, with the future of the Labour Party and the state of the Union among the issues at play.
But there were still many familiar sights, with party leaders posing for pictures after they voted and plenty of #dogsatpollingstations photos to brighten up social media.
Signs warned voters to wear masks – and that selfies were not permitted (Andrew Matthews/PA)
Voters were urged to use hand sanitiser – and to take their own pen or pencil to mark the ballot (Andrew Matthews/PA)