The SNP is the only party to have secured a majority in the 22-year history of the Scottish Parliament and - given polling over the past year - is hoping to repeat the feat. In doing so, it had hoped to reinvigorate the campaign for a second referendum on Scottish independence, having pledged to launch an 11-point roadmap if a majority was secured. And despite Ms Sturgeon's failure to win an outright majority she immediately called for another referendum claiming it was "the will of the country". Last year polls began to detect a surge in the number of Scots backing independence, with many showing a majority in favour of leaving the UK for the first time in years, but more recent surveys have suggested support has declined.