Local elections results as they happened: SNP gains and Lib Dem resurgence as Tories take a bruising
Nicola Sturgeon hailed the seismic result and tweeted: “National/city trends aside, this result is seismic. For years, Pollokshields was the only Tory seat in Glasgow and it seemed we would never take it.”
Elsewhere in the city, leader Susan Aiken was overtaken by the Scottish Greens on first preference votes in the Langside ward.
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Hide AdMeanwhile across Scotland and the UK it was a damaging night for the Conservatives.
Alex Salmond’s Alba party have failed to secure any councillors
Local elections results LIVE: 2022 Scottish council elections as they happened
Sir Keir Starmer hails ‘turning point’ for Labour
The Labour leader is clearly optimistic about the party’s fortunes after today’s results, but his shadow international trade secretary was more cautious in her cry of having “great hope” after the depths of 2019’s defeat.
Emily Thornberry said: “Some people were saying it was the end of the Labour Party, we weren’t going to get anywhere, that was it. And we are turning things around.”
She added: “We are not saying we would win the general election tomorrow. What we are saying is we are on our way.”
Aberdeenshire bucks the trend as Tories make gains
It’s not all doom and gloom for the Tories.
The Conservatives, who previously formed a ruling coalition at Aberdeenshire Council with the Liberal Democrats and a handful of independents, made gains in Troup, Ellon and Turriff.
Analysis: Why the Tories are bruised but still standing
Westminster correspondent Alexander Brown talks us through an election which saw the worst results for the Tories in Scotland and London, but he says the party could still be competitive.
Douglas Ross points the finger at Boris Johnson over party losses
Douglas Ross has stopped short of backtracking once again on his stance regarding Boris Johnson’s future as UK Tory party leader.He says that Boris can’t ignore these results, after the Conservatives suffered heavy losses in the council elections.
It comes after he originally called on Mr Johnson to resign in the wake of Partygate before backpedalling and saying he should stay.
However, the latest salvo fired at the PM shows Mr Ross is still keen to distance himself from his boss.Full story here