Sturgeon faces biggest SNP loss for nearly 40 years

NICOLA STURGEON’S SNP was last night on course to lose 22 seats, including that of her Westminster leader, amid a backlash against her plans for a second independence referendum.

The result, forecast by exit polls, would see Ms Sturgeon suffer the worst electoral reverse for an SNP leader for almost 40 years. Her party’s 34 seats would be a huge fall from 2015’s 56.

The poll predicted that the Scottish Tories were on course to capture a swathe of Snp-held seats across Scotland, including the Moray constituency of Angus Robertson, the Nationalists’ Westminster leader and Ms Sturgeon’s deputy. It would be the Conservatives’ best performance north of the Border for decades.

An air of gloom descended over some senior and battle-hardened Nationalists over the scale of their losses, with one saying: “I think it (the exit poll) is probably very accurate.”

The SNP group could have greater influence in a hung parliament but Ms Sturgeon is expected to be urged to withdraw her demand for a second independence referendum.

Douglas Alexander, Labour’s former shadow foreign secretary, recalled how voters told him they were “voting for Nicola” when he lost his seat in the 2015 election. However, he said they were now telling him, “I’m not voting for that woman”.

All four of the Lib Dems’ gains are predicted to take place in Scotland, winning Edinburgh West and Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross, Ross, Skye and Lochaber and Dunbartonshire East.