John Swinney declares victory for SNP in Holyrood elections

John Swinney, the Scottish National party leader, has declared victory in the Holyrood elections after only a handful of results confirmed Labour had been comprehensively beaten. Speaking to the BBC after holding his own seat of Perthshire North, Swinney said he was “absolutely certain the SNP is going to be the leading party coming out of this election”. He said he would be “privileged” to form the next Scottish government after leading his party to its fifth successive victory. “I think that’s a reflection of the work that we’ve undertaken to rebuild public confidence and trust in the SNP,” he said. A little earlier the Scottish Labour leader, Anas Sarwar, conceded that his party had comprehensively lost, after admitting the party failed to counter the “national dissatisfaction” with Keir Starmer. Speaking to the media in Glasgow after only seven of Holyrood’s 129 seats had been declared, Sarwar said: “We made an argument for change and, ultimately, it’s an argument we lost.” He said he stood by his demands in January for Starmer to quit as UK Labour leader and prime minister. “My party is hurting today and it’s my job to hold it together,” he said. “We will continue to fight for the change we believe Scotland so desperately needs.” Anas Sarwar speaking to the press at Glasgow International Arena. …