SNP figures left reeling after ‘cataclysmic’ election night which saw biggest ever loss of MPs

Senior SNP figures have been left reeling after a ‘cataclysmic’ night in which their party slumped to its biggest ever loss of MPs.

The SNP won just nine of the 56 Scottish constituencies declared yesterday after voters deserted them following a series of scandals and controversies.

With one Scottish constituency result still to be announced today, the SNP’s group in the Commons will collapse compared with the 48 seats it won in 2019.

It led to major questions about the election strategy adopted by John Swinney – while one of its most prominent MPs urged Nicola Sturgeon to accept her share of the blame.

Voters turned against the SNP amid the continuing police probe into its funding and finances, which led to Ms Sturgeon’s husband being charged in connection to the embezzlement of funds from the party.

First Minister John Swinney suffered a devastating blow,only managing to hold on to just nine of the 56 Scottish constituencies

Joanna Cherry, MP for Edinburgh South West at the general election where she lost her seat

Mr Swinney has faced criticism and promised to to ‘look very carefully’ at why its vote collapsed and ‘work hard’ to rebuild trust with the electorate

Former MP Mhairi Black, who stood down at the election,addressing the commons

It has also faced criticism for controversies involving its MPs and its performance at Holyrood. Former MP Mhairi Black, who stood down at the election, said: ‘What was expected to be a difficult night for the SNP now looks set to be cataclysmic.

‘Blaming voters, or doing anything other than serious self-reflection, is precisely the kind of attitude that has turned so many away from the SNP.’

The party lost more seats than its previous biggest ever losses in 2017, when 21 of its MPs were ousted.

John Swinney has admitted the SNP suffered a ‘very difficult and damaging’ election night with ‘significant implications’ for the party and its independence plans.

The First Minister said the SNP would have to ‘look very carefully’ at why its vote collapsed and ‘work hard’ to rebuild trust with the electorate.

However, the SNP leader refused to consider his own position or take separation ‘off the table’.

Speaking from his local count in Perthshire, Mr Swinney said his party would be doing ‘a lot of soul searching’. He added: ‘This is an enormous victory for the Labour Party, but it has significant implications for the SNP.

‘We have to look carefully at what happened and learn lessons from it as we work hard to build the trust we must enjoy with the people of Scotland.’

Mr Swinney also conceded the SNP had to be ‘better at governing’ and delivering on its policies.

Voters turned against the SNP amid the continuing police probe into its funding and finances, which led to Ms Sturgeon’s husband being charged in connection to embezzlement 

Peter Murrell, former SNP chief executive and husband of ex-first minister Nicola Sturgeon who was embroiled in an embezzlement scandal

Asked if he accepted the SNP’s emphatic defeat meant independence was now ‘a very hard sell’, Mr Swinney said: ‘Polls still show about half the population want our country to be independent, but that has not manifested itself in the election results. 

It now faces a battle to hold onto power at the next Holyrood election in 2026 after Labour’s vote soared in Scotland.

Labour won 37 seats north of the Border and 35.7 per cent of the vote, compared with the SNP’s nine seats and 29.9 per cent vote share.

The Conservatives won five seats and 12.9 per cent of the vote, while the Lib Dems also won five seats and secured a vote share of 9.1 per cent.

During her appearance as a pundit on ITV’s election results programme, Ms Sturgeon condemned the SNP’s election campaign and said ‘a lot of questions need to be asked’.

She said: ‘I think there will be a question about whether there was enough in the campaign to give effectively a USP to the SNP in an election that was about getting the Tories out and replacing them with Labour.’

Joanna Cherry, who saw her huge majority overturned as she was defeated by Labour in Edinburgh South West, said the SNP needed to have an ‘open and honest appraisal of what has gone wrong here, otherwise this setback is not going to be reversed’.

Asked on the BBC who was responsible for her party’s reputation taking a battering, Ms Cherry, who has opposed the SNP’s gender reforms, said: ‘Clearly there’s been a lot of criticism about the policy priorities that were followed under the leadership of Nicola Sturgeon.

‘There was a huge focus on identity politics, to perhaps the detriment of the public’s priorities. And I also feel clearly that some recent scandals have damaged the party’s reputation.

The SNP leader with Hannah Bardell, the candidate for Livingstone on the final day of campaigning 

Mr Swinney said that the polls still showed about half the population want independence but added that that has not manifested itself in the election results

‘Integrity has been a big issue in this election and I personally believe that integrity is very important in politics, and I think the public do as well.’

Pressed on Ms Sturgeon saying it had been a grim night for the SNP, Ms Cherry said: ‘Well, I think the failure to advance the cause of independence and the loss of focus on the public’s priorities happened under her watch, so I think she has to take her share of the blame.

‘The blame shouldn’t fall all on one person, but it certainly shouldn’t be entirely directed at those who were left holding the baby when she suddenly resigned a year and a half ago.’

Former SNP Westminster leader Ian Blackford admitted that voters have ‘fallen out of love’ with the party. 

When the BBC’s Kirsty Wark told him it had been a ‘catastrophic’ night for the SNP, he said: ‘It is, and we have to reflect very carefully on what the public have told us.

‘I think to some extent people have fallen out of love with us and we must listen to why.’

The SNP will fall behind the Lib Dems and be the fourth biggest party in the Commons, which could result in it losing £1million of public ‘short money’ handed to opposition parties – piling pressure on its finances after donations dried up.