Scottish Parliament – the story so far

Each of the five elections since devolution has produced a parliament with a distinctive make-up.

After the excitement of having the first Scottish Parliament since 1707 – elected on May 6, 1999 – and the novelty of a Labour-lib Dem coalition, there came the "rainbow" parliament in 2003.

That election saw both the two biggest parties, Labour and the SNP, lose seats while the Tories and Lib Dems held steady and there was a flourishing of the smaller parties– sevengreenmsps, six Scottish Socialists, one Pensioners' Party member and three independents.

The Labour-lib Dem coalition continued until 2007 when the third Scottish Parliament election finished with the SNP just one seat ahead of Labour. There was talk of possible coalitions but in the end the SNP formed a minority government and, despite predictions, managed to survive the full term.

In 2011 Labour failed to regain its previous position of dominance and instead the SNP won an overall majority, even though the voting system was designed to make that almost impossible.

The Nationalists lost their majority in 2016 and returned to minority government, but in contrast to 2007 the Tories – who had struggled for so long to make any impact in Scotland – overtook Labour to become the main opposition party at Holyrood.

The next twist in the tale of the Scottish Parliament will emerge once the final results are declared on Saturday.