Parliamentary elections in Scotland: the ruling party narrowly failed to gain an absolute majority

The Scottish National Party (SNP) will win 64 of the 129 seats in Parliament in the future, the Edinburgh Electoral Commission announced Saturday evening. But since the Green Party, which also favors secession from the United Kingdom, won eight seats, those in favor of independence held a majority.

And the election commission announced the result after receiving the results from all constituencies. The elections were seen as a test of the mood for independence. Prime Minister Nicolas Sturgeon (SNP) wants to return Scotland to the European Union. The British government strongly rejects a new referendum.

Driven by a strong result in the general election in Scotland, Scotland’s ruling party increased pressure on London not to block the new independence referendum any longer. “The only people who can decide the future of Scotland are the Scots,” said the sturgeon on Saturday evening.

In the dispute over the new referendum, the ball was played on British Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s field. He threatened “to fight with the democratic desires of the Scottish people” if he tried to block the vote.

It is the fourth consecutive electoral victory for the Scottish National Party in Scotland. The sturgeon announced that it would go ahead with the referendum. A bill for this is already in the tray.

Johnson told the Daily Telegraph newspaper on Saturday that the referendum was “irresponsible and reckless”. “Now is not the time for constitutional disputes and talk of tearing our country apart when people are more interested in tackling our economy and moving forward together.” Most experts believe the referendum would not be legal without London’s approval.

The British government confirms that the independence issue was already resolved in the 2014 referendum. Cabinet Member George Eustis told the Radio Times, “Holding a referendum and further discussion on the constitution would be irresponsible if we were to get out of this pandemic and focus on economic recovery.” On the other hand, the Scottish National Party insists that the initial situation has changed as a result of Brexit. The majority of Scots refused to leave the European Union in the 2016 Brexit referendum, but were overruled.

British media have said the fact that the Scottish National Party lacks an absolute majority is in Johnson’s favor. On the one hand, the SNP experts and party related experts contend that it is not the SNP outcome alone that is decisive. “Boris Johnson is not a kind of fiefdom in Scotland,” said Deputy Prime Minister John Sweeney. The most important is the majority in Parliament.

The turnout was over 63 percent, the highest it had ever been. In many places there were long queues in front of the polling stations.

In the end, the Supreme Court will decide on the referendum. “If Boris Johnson wants to stop this, he has to go to court,” Sturgeon told Channel 4. The Scottish National Party aims to hold a referendum by the end of 2023.