MADRID
Scottish voters effectively killed off any prospect that a second referendum on independence for Scotland will happen anytime soon.
The Scottish National Party (SNP) lost 19 seats as parties committed to maintaining the Act of Union with the rest of the United Kingdom surged, erasing the gains won by the separatists in the general election of 2015.
Heading into Thursday’s general election, the SNP held 56 of the 59 seats north of the border, and had previously suggested that it would be difficult to retain all of those seats, given the size of the so-called “separatist tsunami” that had swept over Scotland in 2015 and after the failed independence referendum of September 2014.
Scottish First Minister and SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon had hoped that a strong Labour showing would allow her party to press for a second independence vote — “indyref2”.
“Indyref2 is dead, that’s what we’ve seen tonight,” Ruth Davidson, the leader of Scotland’s Conservatives told the BBC as her party won 13 seats there, its best showing since 1983. Labour won seven and the Liberal Democrats won four. In 2015, the three parties had just one seat each. The SNP lost up to 20 per cent of its previous support in some constituencies, with Alex Salmond, a former First Minister and SNP leader losing his seat. But he still maintained a brave face, telling the BBC: “This has been a disaster for Theresa May. She called an election clearly very arrogantly thinking she was going to crush the opposition, sweep everybody aside and cruise to a landslide majority. Her position is very, very difficult.”
Salmond, who held his seat for 30 years, was beaten by Conservative Colin Clark.
“The silent majority have spoken,” Clark said. “We’re proud to be part of the United Kingdom.”
