Scottish election results 2021:

There seems to be one major winner in the first slew of results to come out of the Scottish elections: the SNP.

The only party to gain seats by late last night, as the majority of the first-past-thepost constituency votes were declared, the SNP won East Lothian from Scottish Labour, and Ayr from the Scottish Conservatives.

Meanwhile, EX-SNP Westminster leader Angus Robertson took Ruth Davidson’s former stomping ground of Edinburgh Central from the Scottish Conservatives.

The results do not include list seats, which will be declared today due to changes to the way that votes are counted during the coronavirus pandemic. Around a third of the constituency seats are also due to be declared on today, including two in Edinburgh.

Paul Mclennan took East Lothian – Iain Gray’s former seat – from Scottish Labour, which has held the constituency since the inception of the Scottish Parliament in 1999.

Mr Gray held the seat in the 2016 election with an increased majority, when a lot of his Scottish Labour colleagues lost theirs. However, Mr Mclennan took 39.2 per cent of the vote, trumping Mr Gray’s share of five years ago.

In Ayr, the SNP won with a majority of just 170, with Siobhian Brown taking the seat from Tory John Scott, who has served in the constituency since a by-election in 2000.

Liberal Democrat Alex Colehamilton won Edinburgh Western with 55 per cent of the vote – almost 10,000 votes more than his nearest rival for the SNP. Party leader Willie Rennie also retained his seat in north-east Fife, doubling his majority in the process.

The party also held on to its other two constituency seats in Orkney, where Liam Mcarthur won, and Shetland. However, in the latter, the party’s majority over the SNP was slashed from 4,000 to 800. In Orkney, the Lib Dem vote was also down on 2016, with a 4.8 per cent swing to the SNP.

“I can smile now,” Mr Rennie said after his victory. He added: “I was brought up in North East Fife, in Strathmiglo and went to school in Cupar, so it’s a real honour to be elected with such a majority.”

However, Caithness, Sutherland and Ross, seen as a key Liberal Democrat target, was held by the SNP’S Maree Todd, despite a swing of 2.6 per cent to Lib Dem candidate Molly Nolan.

In a year when 34 of the 129 MSPS are opting not to stand again and to leave Holyrood, SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon will have been relieved to see some of her remaining big hitters retain their seats.

Deputy first minister John Swinney – now the longest serving parliamentarian in Scotland after Roseanna Cunningham stepped down – won 49.5 per cent of the vote in Perthshire North, a slight increase on his 2016 results.

Finance secretary Kate Forbes also won her seat in Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch, with a massive 15,000 majority over nearest rival, Tory Jamie Halcro Johnston, who polled 8,331 votes. And rural economy secretary Fergus Ewing had a comfortable victory in Inverness and Nairn.

Mr Swinney beat the Conservatives’ Murdo Fraser by 19,860 votes to 15,807, with

Labour’s Ryan Smart and Liberal Democrat Peter Barrett lagging behind with just over 10 per cent of the vote between them.

“This is an emphatic endorsement of my candidacy here in Perthshire North,” said Mr Swinney. “We had a larger gap between the SNP and the Conservatives in this election compared to the last election, so I'm delighted.”

Fiona Hyslop, cabinet secretary for economy, fair work and culture in the last parliament, also held her seat in Linlithgow, while Anabelle Ewing held Cowdenbeath for the SNP – a seat that Scottish Labour was believed to be feeling confident about.

Another seat which had been an optimistic target for Scottish Labour – Rutherglen – was held by the SNP’S Claire Haughey.

Glasgow Southside saw a strong showing from Labour leader Anas Sarwar, who saw theparty’s votesharerisefrom 20 per cent to 31 per cent.

However, Nicola Sturgeon took 60 per cent of the votes in what was the first showdown between two major party leaders for one seat in the history of British politics.

In Edinburgh Central, veteran politician and former SNP Westminster leader Mr Robertson scooped the seat, which was previously held by Ms Davidson, a former Scottish Conservatives leader , in a big win for the SNP. Baroness Davidson is due to take up her seat in the House of Lords this year.

With a majority of almost 5,000 over Tory candidate Scott Douglas, the result is the SNP’S best ever performance in Edinburgh Central.

Nearby Edinburgh Southern saw Scottish Labour’s Daniel Johnson hold his seat with a 10 per cent increase in his share of the vote from around 1,000 to over 4,000.

The party also kept control of Dumbarton, with Jackie Baillie holding her seat – Scotland’s most marginal constituency going into the election, and a key SNP target – increasing her majority from 109 votes in 2016 to 1,483 yesterday.

The Scottish Conservatives have won three seats so far. In Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Rachael Hamilton was well ahead of her nearest rival, although with a reduced majority, while Oliver Mundell increased his majority in Dumfriesshire.

Former party leader Jackson Carlaw held on to his Eastwood seat, marginally increasing his lead over the SNP.