SNP Wins Most Seats but Loses Majority in Scottish Election as Reform UK Gains

The Scottish National Party won a fifth consecutive election victory in the 2026 Scottish Parliament election, securing 58 out of 129 seats in Holyrood. John Swinney will return as First Minister of Scotland after the SNP won a fifth straight term running the semi-autonomous government in Edinburgh. Results were declared on or before May 9, 2026.

Labour and Reform UK ended up level in second place on 17 seats each. The SNP held key northeastern constituencies including Aberdeen Central, Aberdeen Donside, Aberdeenshire East, and Banffshire and Buchan Coast. In Banffshire and Buchan Coast the SNP's Karen Adam secured a narrow victory over Reform with a majority of 364.

SNP's Stephen Flynn won the constituency of Aberdeen Deeside and North Kincardine. 1 percent of the vote, defeating Labour's Jenny Laing. 6 percent, defeating Reform's Claudia Leith on 7,029 votes.

In Aberdeenshire East, SNP's Gillian Martin received 11,624 votes, defeating Conservative Douglas Lumsden with 10,681 votes. 9 percent, defeating SNP's Fatima Joji on 10,113 votes. Burnett said funding for local services would be among his priorities.

One of the most striking results came in Shetland. SNP's Hannah Mary Goodlad defeated Lib Dem candidate Emma Macdonald to win the seat. Shetland had been represented by the Liberal party and later the Lib Dems since Jo Grimond was elected in 1950.

Lib Dem Liam McArthur held the Orkney Islands seat with a winning vote share of 72 percent, the highest in the history of Holyrood. The SNP's sweep of northeastern seats occurred even as Reform mounted strong challenges in traditional pro-Brexit areas such as the fishing-heavy Banffshire and Buchan Coast.

President Donald Trump congratulated John Swinney on winning re-election as First Minister of Scotland.