Scottish National Party’s fourth election win threatens UK breakup
Nicola Sturgeon’s Scottish National Party (SNP) won this year’s elections to the Scottish parliament by a huge margin. The party polled 47.7 percent of the vote in individual constituencies, against the Conservatives with 21.9 percent and Labour with 21.6 percent. In the regional lists, the SNP won 40.3 percent against 23.5 percent for the Conservatives and 17.9 percent for Labour. The Greens polled only 1.3 percent in the constituencies but 8.1 percent on the lists.
Under the proportional representation system, these figures translate to 64 seats for the SNP, 31 for the Conservatives, 22 for Labour, eight for the Greens and four for the Liberal Democrats. With the formal or informal assistance of the Greens, the SNP will therefore be able to form a pro-independence majority in the 129-seat parliament.