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SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon was in buoyant mood as she arrived at the Glasgow count
The SNP has won seats from both Labour and the Conservatives, with the party on course for a spectacular result in the UK general election.
Margaret Ferrier overturned a small Labour majority to oust Ged Killen in Rutherglen and Hamilton West.
And John Nicolson won the Ochil and South Perthshire seat after defeating Luke Graham of the Conservatives.
The SNP also won back Midlothian from Labour’s Danielle Rowley and Angus from the Conservatives.
Speaking as she arrived at the Glasgow count, SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon said it had already been an “exceptionally good night” for her party.
She added: “UK-wide it’s a pretty grim result, but it shows the divergent path that Scotland and the rest of the UK are on.”
Ms Sturgeon has already pledged to send a letter to the prime minister before Christmas requesting that Holyrood be given the power to hold indyref2.
The UK government’s cabinet minister, Michael Gove, told ITV he does not believe that another independence referendum is inevitable.
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Scotland
After 34 of 59 seats
-
Scottish National Party
31 seats
, +10 seats compared to 2017
-
Conservative
2 seats
, -6 seats compared to 2017
-
Liberal Democrat
1 seats
, +0 seats compared to 2017
-
Labour
0 seats
, -4 seats compared to 2017
The SNP had won 24 of the 26 seats to have declared by 03:40, with the party securing 46.8% of the votes – 9.1% more than in the last general election in 2017.
The Conservative vote had fallen by 3.7% to 25%, while the Labour vote was down by 9% to 19.5%. The Liberal Democrat vote had increased by 3.3% to 7.5%.
Rutherglen and Hamilton West was the first Scottish constituency to declare its result at 01:25, with Ms Ferrier – who previously held the seat between 2015 and 2017 – polling 23,775 votes, giving her a majority of 5,230 over her Labour rival.
In the second constituency to declare, the SNP’s David Doogan defeated Conservative Kirstene Hair, who had won the seat two years ago, by 3,795 votes.
Other early results saw the party’s Mhairi Black comfortably hold her Paisley and Renfrewshire South seat with a greatly increased majority, while Alan Brown held Kilmarnock and Loudoun and Martin Docherty retained his Dunbartonshire West seat.
Kenny MacAskill, the former Scottish justice secretary, won the East Lothian seat for the SNP after defeating Labour’s Martin Whitfield and the SNP also won Renfrewshire East from the Conservatives.
SNP MEP Alyn Smith won Stirling from Stephen Kerr of the Conservatives, while the SNP also took Aberdeen South from the Tories and Coatbridge, Chryston and Bellshill from Labour.
But Douglas Ross held his Moray seat for the Conservatives, while the SNP’s Stephen Gethins lost by 1,316 votes to Wendy Chamberlain of the Liberal Democrats.
Mr Gethins had won the seat by just two votes in 2017.
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The results came after an exit poll predicted the SNP could be on course to win 55 of Scotland’s 59 seats.
If the forecast is correct, it would see the SNP win 20 more seats than the 35 it won in 2017.
The poll, carried out on behalf of the BBC, ITV and Sky News, also suggests the Conservatives could win 368 seats across the UK, with Labour 191 and the Lib Dems 13.
That would mean the Conservatives would have an overall majority of 86.
The predicted exit poll result would be a remarkable success for the SNP, and would see the party return a similar number of MPs to the historic 56 it won in the 2015 general election.
It would also potentially add weight to Ms Sturgeon’s demands for a second independence referendum, which she wants to hold next year.
For a nationwide breakdown of results, see our results page, which will be updated throughout the night.
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The exit poll also predicts that the Liberal Democrat leader Jo Swinson would lose her East Dunbartonshire seat to the SNP.
But the Liberal Democrats have insisted that the exit poll does not reflect what the party was seeing on the ground in Scotland.
Polling expert Prof Sir John Curtice said that the SNP figure for Scotland was the part of the exit poll “about which frankly we are least confident”,
And he said he would not be surprised if the party’s gains were “rather less” than predicted.
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SNP activists and candidates celebrated the party’s early successes at the Glasgow count
It comes at the end of an election campaign which had focused heavily on the key constitutional issues of Brexit and an independence referendum.
The BBC’s political editor Laura Kuenssberg said that if the exit poll figures are broadly correct then Conservative Party leader and Prime Minister Boris Johnson will get the backing he needs in Parliament to take the UK out of the EU next month.
It would be the biggest Conservative victory since 1987 and Labour’s worst result since 1935, the poll suggests, with the party forecast to lose 71 seats.
This has been a remarkable election campaign, unprecedented given the nature of the contest – with Brexit and independence and huge fundamental issues at play.
And this is quite a remarkable exit poll.
We have to put in all the caveats – these are real voters in real polling stations who have really voted and given their views to pollsters as they came out, but this is only a sample – it can’t be drilling down to be 100% accurate.
Before the election Ruth Davidson said she would go skinny dipping in Loch Ness if the SNP won 50 seats.
If the exit poll is right, she’d better get to the banks of the loch.
An increase of 20 seats would put the SNP nearly to the level they were at in 2015, and give Nicola Sturgeon the mandate to demand a further independence referendum.
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Follow election night on the BBC Scotland
- Watch the overnight television programme, on BBC One Scotland and at midnight on the BBC Scotland channel, presented by Glenn Campbell and Brian Taylor.
- On BBC Radio Scotland, there will be live coverage brought to you by presenters Bill Whiteford and Gillian Marles
- The BBC’s news website and app will be the one-stop place to go for live coverage and the latest analysis throughout the night. You will be able to keep in touch with the Scotland-wide picture on your phone, tablet, laptop, internet-enabled television and desktop
- You can find out what is happening in your constituency here
- Follow the key moments and reaction to the results on social media by using #BBCelection and following @BBCScotlandNews on Twitter and BBC Scotland news on Facebook