Nicola Sturgeon hails local elections 'resounding victory' despite 15 years of SNP power

Ms Sturgeon’s party increased its share of first preference votes to 34.1 per cent ahead of Labour on 21.7% of the vote share and the Tories on 19.6%.

Labour replaced the Conservatives as the second biggest party, picking up 20 seats and a total of 282 councillors – while the Tories lost 63 and now have only 214 councillors in Scotland.

The LibDems and the Greens increased their number of councillors and share of the vote from 2017, but Alex Salmond’s Alba failed to get a single councillor elected including party general secretary Chris McEleny who lost his seat in Inverclyde.

In Dundee, the SNP secured an overall majority, while Labour won control of West Dunbartonshire.

But across the country, parties are set to thrash out deals to secure coalitions, informal agreements or opt to go it alone as minority administrations.

Labour fell one seat short of becoming the biggest party in Glasgow with the SNP remaining the largest group of councillors. In the capital, the SNP matched their performance from 2017 and are now the biggest party in Edinburgh with the Conservatives seeing their councillors halved from 18 to nine and the LibDems doubling their tally from six to 12.

The SNP were the largest party in Aberdeen, returning 20 councillors, which should be enough for them to run as a minority administration.

After the last election, Labour and Tory councillors formed a coalition, however, they now only have 19 councillors between them.

In Moray, the Conservatives increased their number of councillors, gaining three seats to move to 11, with the SNP - who have run the authority as a minority administration since 2019 - down one to eight.

Nicola Sturgeon rejected claims that the SNP's success was because of her party's position on the constitution.

Speaking to journalists at the count in Glasgow's Emirates stadium, the First Minister said the party had now been in power for 15 years, and it was wrong to suggest that their longevity was down to some kind of "fluke."

She said: "They like the way the SNP represents Scotland. They have confidence and trust in us. After 15 years in government, the idea that it's some kind of accident or fluke that the SNP is winning elections... I mean we're not winning elections by the skin of our teeth.”

The First Minister insisted that the results showed “the SNP is – by any measure – Scotland’s dominant political force”, adding that “our resounding victory is even more remarkable given my party has been in government at Holyrood for 15 years”.

Scottish Tory leader Douglas Ross has been criticised for U-turning on his call for Boris Johnson to quit over parties in and around Downing Street during lockdown, citing the need for stability at the top of the UK Government due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Speaking from the election count in Moray, Mr Ross said it had been “a difficult night” for his party, adding that the results were “very disappointing”.

The Scottish Tory leader highlighted gains in Moray and Aberdeenshire, but said: “In too many parts of Scotland, we’ve lost excellent candidates and councillors haven’t been re-elected because it seems many of our supporters decided to sit this one out, to protest and not cast their vote, and we’ve lost out as a result of that.”

When asked whether he believes Mr Johnson should lead the Conservatives into the next general election, Mr Ross said: “The Prime Minister simply can’t ignore the message that’s been sent from voters not just here in Scotland, but across the UK.”

He added that “there’s been a very strong message from the public to the Prime Minister and to the party”.

But Conservative activist have pointed the finger at Mr Ross for failing to distance the Scottish Tories from the partygate scandal and the Prime Minister as well as a lack of direction.

One source told The Herald: “The party hierarchy needs to be having a closer examination of its strategy or even develop one”.

The SNP held on in Glasgow, remaining the biggest party. Though they were forced to fight off a fierce challenge from Labour and won by just one seat.

A jubilant Anas Sarwar arrived at the count in Glasgow, in mid-afternoon, claiming Labour had previously “not been willing to compete”.

He said: “We have got the Labour party back on the pitch. We've made huge progress. Last year, the project was to stop armageddon, and we did that. Over the last year we’ve moved forward, and built progress and now I want us to continue that motoring forward, continue that momentum in towns cities, and villages, right across the country. So we're in a place to gain seats again at the next general election.”

“I think if you look at the situation in Glasgow, the SNP vote has gone down. The Labour vote has gone up. We have gained seats from the Tories, gained seats from the SNP. I think that demonstrates that over the last five years this SNP administration in Glasgow, has neglected the City of Glasgow they haven't moved Glasgow forward instead, they’ve taken Glasgow backwards.”

Despite Labour coming within one seat of being the largest party in Glasgow, Mr Sarwar, once again ruled out a formal coalition with other political parties.

He said: ”What we'll seek to do is form minority administrations where we don't have the opportunity to form a majority situation, for example, in West Dunbartonshire where we will have a majority Labour council. And we hope that other political parties, other individuals on individual issues will work together across the political divide to do what's right by the city.

“But, we're not looking at coalitions”.

In Edinburgh, the SNP matched its performance from 2017 with 19 councillors elected to become the biggest party, but with the Conservatives seeing their tally halved from 18 to nine, Labour claimed second spot with 13, while the LibDems doubled their number of councillors in the capital from six to 12 and the Greens increased their return from eight to 10.

Although Mr Sarwar has ruled out formal coalitions, it is believed discussions over an informal arrangement in the capital are set to get underway – leaving the door open for the SNP and Labour to continue their administration in some capacity.

Earlier, Scottish LibDems leader Alex Cole-Hamilton has stressed his party are in “growth territory” after picking up a series of early gains in Edinburgh.

The LibDems made history in the capital by being the first party in Edinburgh to have three councillors elected in a single four-member ward – putting down a big statement in the Almond ward.

Mr Cole-Hamilton told the Herald that the LibDems “have flipped a lot of communities who have traditionally voted Tory”, taking advantage of partygate.

He added: “We're more in tune with progressive values that they hold which the Tory party has deserted with their move to the right."

“A number of Tory voters stayed at home but ultimately this is an endorsement for the LibDems.“ It was a good result for the Scottish Greens, who returned 35 councillors across 13 local authorities, 15 more than they achieved in 2017.

As well as a surge in numbers in Edinburgh and Glasgow, there were wins for the party on Highland Council, Moray, Stirling, South Lanarkshire, Shetland, Borders, Orkney, North Lanarkshire, East Lothian, Clackmannanshire, and Argyll and Bute.

Patrick Harvie told The Herald: "I think that the thing I'm most pleased about is not percentages of votes and parties spinning their results, it's the fact that when we went out and talked to people about the deep linkages between the climate emergency and the cost of living crisis, and the way the solutions to the both are the same actions, the same kind of investment in energy and transport and those systems that can help us consume less and stay well and improve human wellbeing without trashing the planet, people are getting that.

"People are understanding the linkages and the reasons why we need to respond to both those challenges in a coherent way. So that's what we want our councils to be doing."