Keep the heid. The big campaign is coming and that’s the one that counts
THE SNP completed a clean sweep of Glasgow’s seats in a spectacular victory across Scotland for Nicola Sturgeon’s party. All seven Glasgow seats were taken with increased votes and majorities for the party.
It reclaimed Glasgow North East from Labour, which it lost two years ago.
As soon as the results across Scotland were delivered – in which the SNP won 48 seats – attention turned to demands for a second referendum on independence.
Nicolas Sturgeon said it was an “endorsement for Scotland deciding its own future.”
At the Glasgow election count at the SEC Partick Grady was first to be declared in Glasgow North around 3.40am.
Around 4.15am Stewart McDonald was declared the MP for Glasgow South.
In between the party took the seats in North West, East, North East, South West and Central.
Ms Sturgeon said: “I accept that Boris Johnson after this election has a mandate to take England out of the European Union, but he does not have a mandate to take Scotland out of the European Union.
“And I have a mandate, a renewed, refreshed, strengthened mandate to offer people in Scotland the choice of a different future.
“It is then up to people in Scotland what choice they make.
“I don’t pretend everybody who voted SNP yesterday will necessarily support independence, but there is a clear endorsement Scotland should get to decide our future and not have it decided for us.”
Candidates all echoed their party leader and said that the result was a mandate for a second independence referendum.
Stewart McDonald said: “It is bittersweet with a Tory majority government across the UK. England voted for Brexit while Scotland has voted for a second independence referendum. It has elected the SNP as custodians of our European spirit.
“We go to Westminster as Glasgow the Remain-voting city, the Yes-voting city, to ensure Scotland will take it’s place as an independent country in the EU.”
Mr McDonald then urged his fellow SNP activists to “keep the heid. The big campaign is coming and that’s the one that counts.”
Labour politicians in the city said that the SNP message had “pivoted” from lock Boris Johnson out of Downing street to immediately become the campaign for a second referendum.
Humza Yousaf, Scottish Justice Secretary, said: “It means the mandate (for a second referendum) is strengthened. We always had a mandate. It now means the Unionist parties, the Tories, Labour and the LibDems can no longer claim there’s no mandate.
“The First Minister will be making the request for a Section 30 Order and it would be undemocratic for it to be refused.”
Asked about a plan B if Boris Johnson says no, Mr Yousaf said: “If Boris Johnson is going to ignore this and stick two fingers up to Scotland then support for independence will go through the roof.”
Labour vote in the city in most seats actually increased but the SNP increased its vote enormously almost back to the levels of 2015 when it also took all seven seats.