Scotland
- To little surprise, the SNP will be staying in government at Holyrood as the largest party by an overwhelming margin.
- Nicola Sturgeon’s party lost 6 seats and narrowly lost its majority, but given that the electoral system intentionally mitigates against majority governments, that shouldn’t be an enormous shock.
- It was a dreadful night for Scottish Labour, who started off with 37 MSPs and ended up with a paltry 24. Despite winning Edinburgh Southern from the SNP, the party slipped into third place behind the Scottish Conservatives. Kezia Dugdale, the party’s sixth leader in 8 years, vowed to carry on as party leader.
- The Conservatives, wiped out north of the border in 1997 and barely ever a force in Holyrood since 1999, are now the assembly’s main opposition. They more than doubled their seat tally, from 15 to 31. Ruth Davidson, the party’s leader, won a constituency seat in Edinburgh from the SNP. The party also took Eastwood, long a Labour stronghold – perhaps hinting at broader problems for the Labour party nationwide with Jewish voters.
- The Liberal Democrats are not dead yet. Willie Rennie, whose campaign highlights included being interviewed in front of a pair of romping pigs and launching his manifesto in a soft play area, took the seat of North East Fife from the SNP, while his party also held seats in the Scottish islands comfortably.
Wales
- Labour remains the largest party, albeit probably in a minority, and should govern alone fairly comfortably.
- Leighton Andrews, a long-serving member of the Welsh government, was unexpectedly defeated by Plaid Cymru leader Leanne Wood in his Rhondda constituency.
- The Conservatives failed to make significant gains, with party sources blaming the row over Port Talbot’s steel.
- UKIP won its first seats in the assembly, picking up at least 6 assembly seats through the list, including former Kent MP Mark Reckless – with disgraced former Conservative MP Neil Hamilton also winning a seat.
- Labour retained the Ogmore seat at Westminster in a by-election, with UKIP in seco nd place.
England
- Labour have become the first opposition party to lose seats in midterm elections since 1985 – when Neil Kinnock’s Labour Party still lost fewer seats than the Conservative government.
- That said, the party’s results were probably not quite as bad as some feared – the party retained control of Crawley and Southampton, though lost Dudley to no overall control.
- The Conservatives gained some council seats, taking control of Peterborough council, but losing Worcester to no overall control.
- UKIP became the joint-largest party on Thurrock council, drawing level with the Conservatives – and missed out on taking a further seat from the Conservatives by just 1 vote.
- Labour won the Sheffield Brightside by-election, with UKIP in second place.
- Joe Anderson won re-election as Mayor of Liverpool with more than 50 per cent of the vote.
London
- The count for London Mayor and the Greater London Assembly began at 8am, with the result expected to be announced in the late afternoon.
- Campaigners on all sides predicted record low turnout.
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