SNP FACES 'SLAUGHTER' SAYS FORMER LEADER SALMOND

• Party predicted to lose 38 MPs compared to the 2019 general election
• That would see them slide to fifth place in the House of Commons 

 The SNP is on course to be ‘slaughtered’ in the General Election with its biggest loss of MPs in history.

John Swinney’s party looked set to lose 38 seats compared to the 2019 election and slide to fifth place in the House of Commons, according to the official exit poll.

Senior SNP figures yesterday admitted they now needed to ‘listen to the voice of voters’ and regain their trust.

Labour is said to have benefited from a ‘tsunami’ across Scotland, with one of its MSPs saying the exit poll is ‘better than we could have dreamed of’.

Former First Minister Alex Salmond, now leader of the Alba Party, said: ‘London commentators are crowing about seeing the back of the independence argument. 

But the slaughter of the SNP is not because of independence. How could it be? The SNP did not even campaign on it.

‘In reality the support for independence is strong. It is the SNP who are weak. The independence case must now find new vehicles to move forward.’

The shock exit poll led Deputy First Minister Kate Forbes to admit the SNP needs to ‘regain and rebuild the trust of voters’ and ‘listen to the voices of the voters’.

Admitting a ‘very difficult night’ for her party, Ms Forbes said: ‘I think people were voting on a whole host of different fronts, but I think there is no doubt this has been a change election.

‘Lives are difficult across the country and people wanted to send a message, particularly in a Westminster election, to the Conservative government.

‘But of course we take on board what the people of Scotland, the voters, are saying in this election as well, and we will set out our agenda to regain and rebuild the trust of voters across Scotland.

‘The aim of the SNP government must be to meet people where they’re at, to deliver for them, and to ensure our priorities align with their priorities.’

Asked about the implications for the independence debate if the SNP had sunk to ten seats, Ms Forbes said: ‘We must listen to the voices of the voters. We are democrats and that means to listen to the message that voters are sending.’

But she added: ‘I would strongly caution anybody against dismissing the robust, resilient and significant number of people in this country that support independence.

‘And the next Labour government will have to contend with that, will have to listen to Scottish voters, because even over the last few months – which have been difficult – that support for independence has remained strong.

‘Anybody who is a democrat must do what I just suggested we do, which is listen to the voters.’

Labour’s Shadow Scottish Secretary Ian Murray said: ‘It would be an astonishing result for the Labour Party given we’ve come from the worst result in 2019 since 1935.’

But he added: ‘The Scottish margins could be tight. A lot of the constituencies had very, very large SNP majorities.’

Trying to sound a positive note, SNP leader John Swinney said his party had fought an ‘upbeat campaign, firmly rooted in the values of the people of Scotland’.

He said: ‘Scotland will be glad to see the back of this disastrous Tory government and I am confident that SNP votes across the country will make that happen.

‘This election campaign has brought the SNP together. 

I am immensely proud of our people-powered campaign, which has taken our positive vision of a better Scotland to the doorsteps across every corner of our great nation.’

The SNP’s campaign chief, Stewart Hosie, described the poll as ‘stark’ but insisted it was ‘just an exit poll’.

He added: ‘I’m not worried about what this means for the SNP, but clearly if this result or something like it comes to pass, it tells us that the overriding motivation for almost everybody in this election was simply to get the Tories out and people appear to have decided that a vote for Labour is the way to do that.’ 

Former Scottish Conservative leader Jackson Carlaw said it was a ‘terrible result’ for his party UK-wide, but he hoped it would not be as bad north of the Border, arguing Reform UK had less ‘traction’ in Scotland.

He said: ‘The SNP had said this was another referendum on independence.

‘If it was another referendum on independence then it was a defeat for independence as well.’

SNP constitution secretary Angus Robertson said: ‘Change was in the air. 

'I don’t actually think devolved Scottish politics played as big a role in people’s decision making as that desire for change at a UK level.’

Tory MSP Murdo Fraser said: ‘The exit poll clearly is in two parts, you’ve got the situation south of the Border which very much is in line with polling, what we expected.

‘Clearly people are casting a verdict on 14 years of Conservative government, five prime ministers, and the country was looking for a change.

‘The situation in Scotland, clearly, is a very different one because it looks like people are actually making up their minds how to vote based primarily on a verdict on 17 years of the SNP in government and clearly have not liked what they have seen from the SNP and they’re up for an even bigger change, potentially, in Scotland.

‘It does look like, on the basis of the exit poll, the Conservatives might not just be looking to hold the seats we have in Scotland but actually might make gains.’

Labour sources were increasingly confident last night that they could win all six seats from the SNP in Glasgow and all three in Edinburgh.

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2024-07-05T00:29:24Z dg43tfdfdgfd