Sturgeon falls short of majority in Scotland as Labour civil war erupts
SNP leader demands new referendum despite Unionist parties gaining more than half the vote
NICOLA STURGEON failed to win a clear majority in the Scottish Parliament last night as the Labour Party looked set to descend into civil war.
The Scottish First Minister called for another independence referendum, claiming it was “the will of the country”, despite falling one short of a clear majority for the SNP.
In an election result that eased the pressure on the Prime Minister over the Union, the SNP won 64 seats, up one from the last election, while the Tories remained level on 31. Labour dropped two to 22 seats, the Greens increased two to eight and the Liberal Democrats fell one seat to four. Alex Salmond’s Alba Party failed to win a seat.
That came as the bloodletting in Labour began after its disastrous showing in the Hartlepool by-election and a disappointing performance in the English local elections.
Last night Angela Rayner was sacked as chairman of the Labour Party, and rumours swirled around Westminster that a purge of the shadow Cabinet was imminent. It prompted John McDonnell, the former shadow chancellor, to say the decision to fire Ms Rayner was a “cowardly avoidance of responsibility”.
In a dramatic day in British politics: Sadiq Khan took London’s City Hall for a second time, as Shaun Bailey, the Conservative candidate, was defeated despite a better-than-expected performance The Conservatives had another good day in the local elections in England, winning 289 council seats while Labour lost 230. The Greens gained 63, while independents lost 159 Andy Burnham, the former Labour Cabinet minister, said “I’m here” if Labour needed him to take over as leader after a landslide victory to retain his post as Greater Manchester mayor Conservative Andy Street easily retained his position as mayor of the West Midlands, beating Labour’s Liam Byrne by 314,669 votes to 267,262 Mark Drakeford returned to power in Wales as the Conservatives and Labour recorded their best ever results in a Welsh election, while nationalists in the country suffered a crushing blow
Analysis showed that the three Unionist parties in Scotland together won more than 50 per cent of the constituency vote. The Prime Minister last night attempted to capitalise on the
SNP’s failure to win an outright majority by inviting Ms Sturgeon to a summit to save the Union.
Boris Johnson also wrote to Mr Drakeford, the Welsh First Minister, saying they needed to show “spirit of unity and co-operation”, and concentrate on repairing the economy.
In his letter, Mr Johnson, who made clear in an interview with The Telegraph that he would refuse to allow a second Scottish independence referendum, did not address Ms Sturgeon’s demands for one. Instead he offered to treat Scottish patients in English hospitals and to teach Scottish children in English schools as part of a UK-wide approach to supporting the recovery from Covid. He said: “While the UK’s broad shoulders have supported jobs and businesses the length of the country, we know that economic recovery will be a serious shared responsibility because the pandemic’s damage runs deep.”
Mr Johnson said he had asked Ms Sturgeon and Mr Drakeford, plus Northern Ireland joint first ministers Arlene Foster and Michelle O’Neill to the summit.
He said: “To that end, and reflecting your commitment to focus on recovery, I would like to invite you to join me, UK government colleagues and others at a summit meeting to discuss our shared challenges and how we can work together in the coming months and years to overcome them.”
Regional and city mayors were also likely to be invited to the summit, to be held “within weeks”, No 10 said. The meeting was intended to ensure that the “ultimate focus of the entirety of the UK is what really matters to people”.
However, it will be seen by some as a bid by Mr Johnson to stress the importance of the UK to all of the devolved nations, to counter the pressure from separatist movements to break away.
The idea is to “bind” administrations and mayors into a national process to aid swift economic recovery. A source said: “The scale of the problem is big. We have to level with people. It will take several years to get back to normal. We must work together to deliver on it.”
The source said the SNP’s demand for a second referendum in Scotland was “their problem, not ours”. He added: “Our position is quite clear – we are not having one. The letter is about the Covid recovery; that is the only thing that matters.”
Michael Gove, the Cabinet Office minister who is steering Union policy, was due to go on a round of TV interviews this morning.
Ms Sturgeon’s failure to achieve the outright SNP majority she wanted has greatly lifted the pressure on the Prime Minister. In her victory speech, she still insisted there was a cast-iron mandate for Mr Johnson to give her the powers for another separation vote by the end of 2023, when Scotland would still be recovering from the pandemic.
She declared herself “thrilled” with the result, saying the SNP had “emphatically” won. The SNP won the most votes and highest share recorded in Holyrood election history, she claimed.
There was now “simply no democratic justification” to refuse a referendum, despite constitutional affairs being reserved to Westminster, she said, and argued a refusal would backfire by driving up support for separation.
Referring to her referendum pledge, she said: “All of that is what I promised and all of that is what I intend to deliver.”
She still plans to press ahead with her own vote if the Prime Minister refuses to grant the powers, and will challenge him to block it in the Supreme Court.
Ms Sturgeon’s failure meant that she was unable to repeat the feat Mr Salmond, her predecessor, achieved in 2011, when he won an outright majority, paving the way for the 2014 independence referendum.
While several polls had suggested the SNP could win a majority, pro-UK voters north of the border united in several key marginals to narrowly hold off the nationalists.
Mr Ross said people were “watching in disbelief ” Ms Sturgeon’s demand after she had reassured them only a few days ago in a TV debate that their votes would not be used to endorse a second independence referendum. Any “wildcat” referendum organised without the UK Government’s authority faces a boycott by Unionist voters, rendering the result meaningless.
Scottish businesses reacted with relief that the election result made a second referendum less likely in the short term.
Robert Kilgour, Scottish Business UK
‘While the UK’s broad shoulders supported jobs and businesses the length of the country, economic recovery will be shared’
‘This isn’t leadership, it’s a cowardly avoidance of responsibility’
chairman, said:“Voters have given the SNP a clear message that they must set aside any plans for a referendum and focus on recovering from the pandemic – saving lives and livelihoods, ensuring jobs are saved and that businesses survive. The Scottish Government must work constructively with Westminster to keep that promise.
“A divisive and distracting referendum during this crisis would be a betrayal of the Scottish people and the business community in particular, which they will not be forgiven for.”
Labour, meanwhile, was still reeling after suffering its worst ever result in the Holyrood election, declining by three seats to 21 despite the popularity of Anas Sarwar, its new leader north of the border. The Liberal Democrats dropped one seat to four. Mr Salmond’s new Alba Party failed to pick up a single seat, even in his native north east, in a major humiliation for the former First Minister.
That came as Sir Keir Starmer, the Labour leader, began a major reshuffle of his top team in the wake of disastrous local election results. Angela Rayner was sacked as party chairman and Anneliese Dodds, the shadow chancellor, and Jon Ashworth, the shadow health secretary, were said to be facing a similar fate. Lisa Nandy, the shadow foreign secretary, was also said to be on the way out.
A reshuffle had been planned for next month but sources suggested it was brought forward following the poor performance at the local elections.
Ms Rayner has been blamed by party insiders for selecting Dr Paul Williams, a non-Brexiteer, as the party’s candidate in the Hartlepool by-election.
The sacking signals cracks at the top of the party, with rows over who was to blame for the election strategy.
John McDonnell, the former shadow chancellor, wrote on Twitter: “Keir Starmer said yesterday that he took full responsibility for the election result in Hartlepool and other losses. This isn’t leadership, it’s a cowardly avoidance of responsibility.”