National contributors give election verdict: 'Voters want action'

With the SNP left on nine seats and a resurgent Labour north of the Border, there is much to discuss on strategies for the path ahead.

See their contributions below, and join the debate in the comments.

Gordon MacIntyre-Kemp, Believe in Scotland CEO

A lot of good hard working pro-indy MPs just lost their seats and an army of independence supporters worked their backsides off to try and keep them in office. I salute their hard work and effort. They will feel scunnered, next a little depressed and then angry. I am already at the angry stage!

This election became the “Get rid of the Tories” election and on a UK national scale that only means one thing: Vote Labour. 

The fact that the SNP went along with the get rid of the Tories theme for so long transformed their hard working indy-dedicated MPs into lambs for the electoral slaughter. This wasn't an independence election. Sure it was line one, page one of the SNP manifesto (which no one but politicos ever read) but it seemed the word independence was banned from the SNP’s campaign. They had time to prepare for this, they had time to build a credible path to delivering independence – but they did not take this time until it was too late. At least they did start working with Believe in Scotland on a new style Constitutional Convention with the Greens. 

READ MORE: General Election: Inside the Glasgow count as SNP lost all six seats

The feedback activists were sending me from the doors was that a lot of indy supporters were disappointed in the SNP for not offering fast enough progress on indy. They thought the only guaranteed change on offer was getting rid of the Tories. Given that (stupidly) the SNP message during most of the campaign was get rid of the Tories – how can you blame them for voting that way. I told the SNP it was political suicide over a year ago. You have to remember that a tonne of indy supporters are naturally Labour supporters and see the SNP just as a way to get indy – they voted Labour and a lot of indy supporters stayed home.

However, don't be too downhearted because Labour are celebrating the UK’s last chance saloon. They've struck gold in England with a Thatcheresque manifesto but that will turn around and bite them in Scotland as voters realise it's a change in name only. Their programme for Government will be toxic here and independence support will surge before Holyrood 26, which I want to be a de facto independence referendum with a political alliance on the list vote – maybe using the tagline Believe in Scotland?

Labour won't reverse Brexit, they won't raise pensions to a decent level, they won't end the two-child cap or end austerity. When we reach Holyrood 2026 the Scottish people will still want change and they will have finally learned that can never come from Westminster. 

If the pro-indy political parties can put their petty rivalries aside and join Believe in Scotland in a new style constitutional convention to offer a believable roadmap to improving Scotland's wellbeing through independence, then we will be toasting Scottish independence sooner than they think.

Isobel Lindsay, peace activist and independence campaigner

At difficult times like this some historical perspective can be useful. There are a diminishing number of us who were 1960s political activists and who have seen many political changes. The dramatic Hamilton by-election win in 1967 triggered a huge increase in SNP membership and branch formation, followed in 1968 by large local election gains. In 1970 the single seat and 11% of the vote was a sore disappointment and there was consensus among the Scottish commentariat that the previous three years had been a short protest and normal service had resumed.

Winnie Ewing won the 1967 Hamilton by-election (Image: Newsquest)

It was, of course, just a prelude. The new leader, Billy Wolfe, (very much under-rated) focused on developing talent and strengthening genuine party democracy. The "It's Scotland's Oil" campaign was the early outcome of this in 1972. There was no equivalent to this style of integrated campaign in Scottish politics at this time. The SNP also gave active support to radical action like the UCS work-in. Within four years of its obituary, the SNP won the Govan by-election, won 22% of the votes and seven seats in February 1974 and over 30% and 11 seats in October. They forced the UK Labour Party to change its policy and promise a devolved Scottish legislature. Party membership was probably similar to its current level.

The next obituary notice came after the failure to get 40% of all registered voters in the 1979 referendum and the loss of all but two of the seats. The Thatcher years were difficult but the SNP was active in the campaigns against the massive de-industrialisation in Scotland, and also in the huge European and UK wide anti-nuclear campaigns of the 1980s. But forming alliances with others came to a halt when some SNP office-bearers without consultation reversed the NEC decision to participate in the Constitutional Convention, probably prompted by the false confidence in winning the second Govan by-election. This was certainly not fatal for the SNP but it was very damaging and gave Labour the initiative in constitutional reform for a decade. The 2007 Holyrood victory put independence on the front foot again.

It is important to remember that support for power in Scotland to be in Scotland's hands has a long history and is not going to go away. There was a substantial movement in the late 19th century up to the First World War, and again in the 1920s when in 1928 the National Party was formed. In 1950 two million Scots signed the Scottish Covenant petition in favour of home rule. We know that 50% of independence support is there but that is not enough and it must not be taken for granted.

READ MORE: John Swinney delivers speech after difficult election night for SNP

Only part of the poor General Election outcome can be attributed to voters prioritising changing the Westminster government. They knew that government was going to be changed. A significant part of it was dissatisfaction with the Holyrood government.

Running a government is very difficult and demanding. We understand that. But the last decade has seen ultra-controlling leadership. The prioritising of presentation and personal promotion over serious sustained policy work. The over-dependence on the timid conventional wisdom of the civil service and the lobbying of powerful commercial and institutional interests. The failure to engage with the many very able and knowledgeable "ideas" people in Scotland who were sympathetic critics in contrast to the comfortable relationships with the "status-quo" interests. And the feeling among many on the shop-floor, on the wards, in the classroom that the government listened to their managers but not them.

All those in local government had very good reasons to be angry at an arbitrary council tax freeze and the failure to reform that tax. How do you get out of the Holyrood bubble? And, of course, how do you develop a viable route to independence? Not easy to do in 18 months but a start would be to require ministers to identify the able critics in their field and identify viable priorities on the path to reform.

If you want change, you need political parties that have a route to power. Civic campaigns and movements have a key role to play in developing support and creating the popular environment for change. But they can't ultimately deliver. You can't just side-step political parties if you want serious change. You may not like the existing one and the SNP in recent years gave good reasons for this in lack of party democracy, the treatment of anyone who didn't conform to the leadership line and too much gesture politics without substance.

But the history of new parties is most certainly not encouraging. I can't think of any real successes in the past 60 years. Anyone remember the Scottish Labour Party of the 1970s, the SDP, the Scottish Socialist Party, the Pensioners' Party, Rise? The Greens have the same number of MSPs as they had in 2003. New parties may be valuable as pressure groups but even in that role, they seldom last.

So independence supporters and left reformers have a difficult time ahead. But of one thing I am certain, it is not time for an independence obituary.

Ellie Gomersall

Speaking to the BBC overnight, elections expert Professor John Curtice noted that this election is one which the Conservatives have lost, rather than one which Labour have won. Labour’s vote share has barely changed in England since 2019, and has even gone down in Wales, but due to the deeply undemocratic First Past The Post electoral system, they will be rewarded with a huge majority of seats. Meanwhile in Scotland, Labour had – in the words of Curtice – a “truly spectacular” rise, and the SNP, like the Tories down south, suffered a cataclysmic defeat.

Labour weren't the only party to have a good night in Scotland though, and while the Scottish Greens didn’t manage to pick up any seats, Greens up and down the country will be celebrating the numerous increased vote shares for the party in a huge number of constituencies. Niall Christie earned 13.1% of the vote in Glasgow South, smashing the party’s national record for a Westminster election, while fellow Greens in Glasgow, Edinburgh, Orkney and Shetland celebrated similarly high results.

The party came third for the first time in a number of seats, including all Glasgow constituencies, putting the Scottish Greens in a position reminiscent to that of our Green Party of England & Wales colleagues in seats like Bristol Central and Waveney Valley just a few years ago – seats which have seen a steady increase of vote-share and today have Green MPs for the first time ever.

While this is a moment to celebrate for the Scottish Greens, it must also serve as a moment of reflection for the SNP and the wider independence movement. Polling in support of independence has not followed the same collapse as that of the SNP, and many pro-independence voters disillusioned by an SNP-led Scottish government which is lacking in ambition have taken their vote elsewhere in this election. Many clearly opted to hold their nose and vote for Labour, while many others who might typically vote Green in proportional elections but usually lend their vote to the SNP for Westminster chose to vote with their conscience and their principles this time round by voting for what they really believe in – the Greens.

The SNP’s domination of the independence movement in electoral politics has held the movement back. You can’t tie an entire social movement to a single party, not least one which is stagnating after 17 years in government. That’s a recipe for failure. The independence movement must return to the grassroots – bolstered rather than led by parties like the SNP and Greens.

Lesley Riddoch

(Image: Gordon Terris)

I read a description of Scotland’s fitba at the Euros – a lot of possession but very little to show for it. Could the same be said for the SNP and perhaps the last 10 years of devolved government?

Could that lack of performance explain Thursday night’s drubbing in the polls? If so, things won’t automatically get better in two years just because it’s not a Westminster election but a Holyrood vote where, at least, the SNP has some genuine agency. Trading on the Scottish Child Payment, negotiations not health strikes and Britain’s best performing A&E’s won’t work again. It didn’t work this time. As well as seeing more social fairness, Scots need to see more industry, building, jobs and a sassy government that’s ready to flaunt the rules if it gets big visible projects off the ground.

The constraints of devolution are having the (desired) deadening effect. Indeed, the cause of independence itself demonstrates how much of a halfway house Holyrood has become.

Austerity, Brexit and the cost-of-living crisis (John Swinney’s ABC) are all Westminster-made –agreed. But the flipside is also true – they can only be fixed at state, level not endlessly mitigated in a devolved parliament. And if the state isn’t an independent Scotland, it might as well be a Labour-run Westminster. Warts and all.

Voters want action. Somewhere.

READ MORE: Robin McAlpine: My proposal to transform the SNP

Now I know there are other factors at work in the SNP’s collapse from 48 to nine seats. Tactical voting helped the Tories hang on in the north-east and Borders (the exquisite despatch of Douglas Ross excepted) and they faced less of a Reform challenge than Tories down south.

The SNP’s vote share didn’t drop as dramatically as the painful decline in seats. But many disillusioned Yes voters simply stayed at home.

Which raises many questions. What’s the reachable target? Where’s the hope? How many years as foot-soldiers? How many decades with sand kicked in our faces by Westminster while an Edinburgh SNP government continues to measure progress in painfully slow, managerial change?

It all makes me think of a hostile environment course I was sent on with some BBC Scotland colleagues prior to being sent to Iraq during the second Gulf War. The trip didn’t happen but the week-long SAS-run course in deep forest near Winchester certainly did. For a week, almost every assignment was interrupted by men with rifles, bearing down on groups of journalists engaged in scouting and first aid tasks. Even with an AK47 pointed at their temples, some trainees still tried to place a bandaged sling on a suspected broken arm – safety pin and all. Their sense of priority, urgency and maybe imagination had totally left them. They thought they were doing OK – but they were all notionally deid.

I exaggerate for effect.

But the SNP knew this tanking defeat was coming. Yessers largely didn’t.

And it’ll now be Labour who have to deliver transformational change with all of the levers of a state, but none of the courage to use them. Five years of underwhelming policy shifts await Scots presented with rictus-grin excitement by a Labour leader dragged further to the right by Nigel Farage as the "old" Tory Party tears itself apart. So, it’s quite possible the voters who deserted the SNP on Thursday night could be back at the party’s door for the 2026 Holyrood elections. But not without some dramatic change.

I’d like to see a different approach to the SNP conference in eight weeks’ time, where the truly big issues are not being debated off the conference floor. I’d like a renewed vigour about Holyrood candidate selection. More folk with a background in industry – fewer special advisers and assistants. And we need a more gutsy approach to independence strategy which involves all the many parts of the movement coming together in a non-adversarial way - not just the SNP.

Thursday was a terrible night. Let it be the reality-check and kick up the arse we all need.

Kelly Given

(Image: Newsquest)

These might be some of the most depressing election results in recent British history. I never expected that the day the Tories finally got booted out of Number 10, I would feel so despondent. Fourteen years of cruelty, corruption, misery and intentional decline coming to an end should be cause for celebration, and when I pictured this day I was certain it would be. 

I thought it would inspire so much joy and relief that I’d be on the streets having a party, but actually, this morning I woke up more disheartened than ever. 

Starmer is simply not the man for this moment. He doesn’t have what it takes to steer these islands back from the brink, or to provide relief to the families up and down Britain who desperately need it. He is weak and feeble and flip flops on policy depending on who he needs in his pocket at any given time. His very presence is enveloped in the kind of lack in integrity that underpins every unfit leader. And his manifesto should be charged to the Tory party, given that most of his policy ideas were theirs first. 

He is a cheap imitation of the sheer incompetence that we already had, and what we spent so long campaigning against. The joy of that coming to an end, the collective sigh of relief we were all going to let out, has been robbed from underneath us by a dishonest careerist parading as something he simply isn’t. 

READ MORE: General Election tracker: Maps and charts show Scotland results so far

Last night was of course bad for the Tories, but the SNP suffered a similar fate here. The party haemorrhaged MPs right across Scotland at the hands of the Labour resurgence, and while I do think that sometimes this is just how politics works and there wasn’t much that could have been done to prevent it, the party must stand up and take responsibility for the failures it has allowed to take hold. I don’t say it lightly as a long-devoted member, but what happened last night has been coming for a while – and there has been some exceptionally bad decision-making at the top that has contributed. 

It’s an insult to the party’s thousands of activists to not protect and nurture the support for independence that they have spent so long building. To let it slip through our fingers because we were too short-sighted and trapped in our inwards SNP bubble. 

So many have been driven from the party in recent months, not least because of the abject failures in trans inclusion and the appointment of a right-wing, anti-choice and anti-gay marriage deputy first minister. At some point, the SNP have got lost and in the struggle to reclaim its identity, have taken a wrong turn.

It was a humbling night, and there are many questions for John Swinney about how he plans to steer the party’s vision from here – but without a return to it’s progressive foundations, we better get used to results like these – because this will just be the beginning. 

Chris McEleny

(Image: George Munro)

This week the people of Scotland rejected the Tory government.

They didn’t reject independence. How could they? Unlike every election since the independence referendum, this General Election was allowed to be turned into an election on who you wanted to be the next UK government.

But when the dust settles, what does it really matter? Scotland only had six pro-independence MPs when Alex Salmond faced down Westminster and forced them to agree to the 2014 independence referendum.

The UK Government couldn’t care less if there is a rump of nationalist MPs on the opposition benches, or if every Scottish MP supported Scottish independence. Why should they? They’re a UK Government, governing in their own interests and ignoring Scotland is what they do.

Standing up every week at Westminster and delivering a smart political punchline, and helping to administer the British state, didn’t advance the cause of independence.

It has always been Scotland, and our Scottish Parliament, acting independently with the popular support of the people that Westminster feared. That’s how we managed to mitigate the Bedroom Tax in Scotland and that’s why David Cameron agreed to an independence referendum.

Labour won 35.7% of the vote in Scotland last night. About 50% of Scotland believes in independence.

READ MORE: General Election results: All Alba candidates lose deposits

The rosette the Prime Minister wears has changed but nothing much else will change other than those running Scotland from London appearing more respectable, for a while. A Labour government will renew nuclear weapons on the Clyde. Labour will continue to require the Scottish Government to spend money that could be dedicated to public services on mitigating the Bedroom Tax, and the two-child cap on benefits will remain. A Labour government will use Scotland’s natural resources to fund nuclear power stations in England whilst one in four children here live in poverty and pensioners struggle to heat their homes in a land of energy plenty.

Policies made in Westminster will still be imposed upon Scotland regardless of the will of the Scottish people.

Scotland’s future should be in Scotland’s hands and the decisions about Scotland should be made in Scotland by the people that live and work here. That is the central point of becoming an independent country and no Westminster government will ever be able to address that simple democratic point.

Alan Petrie, Aberdeen Independence Movement

Aberdeen saw a unique result, largely as a result of oil and gas policy

Well, there can be no sugar-coating Thursday’s result from an SNP and independence perspective. The public has spoken, and it’s spoken loudly and clearly: Things have gone very wrong since the 2021 Holyrood election, and boy, must we listen, reflect, and take action.

Trust is hard-won but easily lost, and we can't expect to hold people’s trust while an ex-CEO and ex-party leader are under police investigation. We can't expect to retain trust when we sign up for a disastrous deal with the Greens, and we can't expect to retain trust when we've had three leaders in the space of a few years. We also can’t expect the 48% of the population who back independence to lend us their vote time and time again, with no real roadmap to independence.

The big question for the SNP, with independence support regularly sitting at around 50%, is why that did not turn into a sizable vote share in this election. The truth is many supporters of independence are disheartened by what looks like a lack of action on independence. Just asking again for permission to hold a referendum over and over is not a winning strategy; it’s a strategy of ever-decreasing returns.

From a north-east perspective, the election results were not as bad as they could have been. The ditching of the Bute House Agreement has saved us a wipeout here. Hindsight is a great thing, but the Bute House Agreement was as far from a great thing as you can possibly get. It was an election killer and a credibility destroyer; we are paying the price. We simply can’t be seen as anti-oil and gas industry and expect to win in the north east; the SNP has a lot of work to do on firming up a credible position, and this must be done at pace.

The SNP is at its best when it is united, disciplined, and laser-focused on the people’s issues, and we can't claim that this has been the case. The cost of living crisis our people face will dominate our political discourse for the foreseeable future. We are in very austere times and it is incumbent on us to offer hope and practical steps. The SNP must rediscover the art of being popular and do so quickly.

READ MORE: The National view on the election: A new start for independence?

We have much work to do and little time to do it. We must offer change, or the electorate will opt to change us. Let this result be the wake-up call we all needed. It hurts, and it hurts a lot, but we must use that hurt to redouble our efforts.

Ian Grant, Scottish Independence Forum

It wasn’t a surprise that the SNP suffered their first major electoral setback in almost 20 years. However the catastrophic level of defeat is stunning. A turnout of only 59% shows pro-independence supporters stayed at home in droves.

The reason? The SNP has failed in its primary aim over the last 10 years. Its early achievements in government post-2007 have been wiped out post 2014 by a record of incompetence, lack of strategy and an unwillingness to listen. It has failed utterly to take hold of and use the sovereignty of the Scottish people to deliver self determination.

Post-referendum, it was straight back to party politics. The failures of 2014 have yet to be properly addressed and Scots need to be united, have confidence in themselves, their politicians and their government’s ability to create a successful independent country, by having a vision and a strategy to deal with the obstacles and opportunities that arise along the way.

Now, we are in a position where Scotland’s sovereignty is not being exercised, we’re outside Europe, and have no coherent plan or vision for our nation’s future. Politically we cannot proceed as before. Scotland’s political leaders have failed. Belatedly, we now need a united and inclusive national conversation.

That is why the Independence Forum Scotland (IFS) plan to establish a national convention on Scotland’s future, with an initial meeting on November 30, and subsequent meetings around Scotland every three months to tackle key issues facing Scotland, including self- determination and modern governance for the country. Other key issues for the first meeting will include land reform and energy. We cannot solve the social issues affecting the country without solving key underlying factors, such as energy and the economy, and this is only achievable with independence. The aim is for the convention to be free from party political influence.

IFS is also building contacts with an ever-widening range of people and groups who are looking at all aspects of our future, including governance and economic management, and the putting in place of structures for a wholly self- governing country, ready to go when the people vote for it.

The General Election has demonstrated a disillusionment/scunner factor within the population, but also a yearning for something different. The Yes movement in all its diversity can unite to use this result to change direction, plan a new country and be the strong driving force for constitutional change at the 2026 Scottish election

Douglas Chapman, former SNP MP

We’re going to need this weekend to digest the result of the 2024 General Election for the SNP.

But once the cold hard reality has set in, we will need to move fast to reset the narrative with 2026 far closer than we might accept. In truth, we have around 12 months to turn this around which will be no mean feat given the devastation of last night’s results and some of the issues we may face in this future time period. But who was it who said never waste a good crisis?

Sometimes it takes a crisis to reassess your priorities. Sometimes it takes a bitter defeat to refocus and rebuild. The SNP story will continue, but we can’t waste any more time on minor issues that are unpopular with the public, we can’t prevaricate in the face of multiple serious challenges across society, and we can’t get side-lined on policies that seem progressive but alienate and exclude.

It’s time to burst the bubble and listen to our supporters and independence supporters, those who came out to vote for us at this election and those who stayed at home or switched. Because any new narrative has to come from a position of truth, no matter how hard it is to face up to what went so badly wrong, we can’t move forward without a warts n’ all analysis.

READ MORE: Douglas Chapman SNP MP to stand down at next General Election

With support for independence holding up at 50/50 in Scotland, the SNP’s central focus remains. However, competent governance and delivery are key to building that support – what’s good for Scotland is good for the independence cause. That needs to be our story.

And this story must be crystal clear, followed up with action, analysis, measured outcomes, long-term planning and citizen engagement. We need to get Scotland sorted from the bottom up not top down – this is where we went wrong when the Greens were in power, too many policies cut and paste onto communities, without listening to their input, their hopes, their needs. We need to widen the net on expertise and talent, open up the echo chambers that are stifling progress, start listening, debating with respect and interest in differing viewpoints – that’s real inclusion and that’s how you make real progress.

Citizens are disheartened with politics, the lack of progress, the degradation of public services under the Tories, just look at the low turnouts in some constituencies. People are suffering from housing shortages, the cost of living, huge energy bills in drafty homes. They are concerned about the future with the ever-growing threat of climate change. That’s why straplines like “Make Scotland Tory Free” just didn’t cut the mustard this time around – what’s missing is detail, vision, a strong focus on the economy and nation building, a can-do Scotland, doing it well and delivering for all Scots.

For my colleagues who have lost their seats, my heart goes out to them. Politics is brutal. But as people regroup and decide their next moves, we need to be aware of the dangers inherent in internalising too much. We have some amount of talent now sitting on the side-lines; when it comes to 2026 and the Holyrood election, we need to have a robust system of candidate selection to ensure we get the very best of the best.

Change may be as good as a rest for some at Westminster but don’t hold your breath on Labour setting the heather alight with radical transformative policies or putting Scotland’s best foot forward. Those SNP MPs who remain at Westminster, small in number though they be, need to settle up for Scotland and work closely with Holyrood to rebuild trust. There’s no time to lose.

Iona Fyfe

We saw this coming, but not to the disastrously heartbreaking extent that the exit poll and results revealed. I feel devastated for the party that works so hard to give Scotland a voice in the melee of Westminster. I am heartbroken for the loss of hardworking MPs such as Alison Thewliss, Hannah Bardell and Anne McLaughlin.

I am sad for the workers and staffers who have lost their jobs. I am frightened by the lurch of the far right in the form of four million votes for Reform. But most of all, I am concerned about voter apathy and the fact that turnout drastically varied with only 47% of my home constituency of Glasgow North East turned out to vote.

The election campaign has established Stephen Flynn as an outstanding campaigner, performer and communicator and incredibly capable leader who has gained respect of voters throughout the UK. With a warm reception from the audience during his standout appearances on Question Time and leaders debates held in both Scotland and England, Stephen Flynn is one of the great assets of the SNP and I breathed a sigh of relief when he held his seat, but magnanimously used his speech to consider the MPs, staffers and workers who have lost their seats, and in turn their jobs.

(Image: This Morning)

Let’s face it; the SNP’s return of a record 47 seats in 2019 wasn’t regarded by as a mandate to re-open discussions about an independence referendum. Last night’s disastrous result should not be taken as a sign that the idea of independence is forever set aside.

Polls repeatedly suggest that around 50% of people in Scotland are still supportive of independence. But with a Labour "Starmer tsunami" taking over Scotland, it’s likely that soft Yes supporters have put the idea of independence aside, hopefully only momentarily, to rid the nation of Conservatives. And just like Reform has split the Conservative vote, Alba has split the independence vote, albeit to a lesser extent.

The SNP is indeed a party accustomed to winning, which is why last night’s result is hitting hard. Many activists aged 16-30, who form the YSI (Young Scots for Independence), have never in their lifetime experienced a defeat like this, albeit the actual independence referendum result and the disastrous Brexit result. The SNP are used to winning. Opposition may say the party has become complacent and has taken its voters for granted. But I know that activists are the lifeblood of the party and are truly appreciated by the members they campaign for.

This is an opportunity for the party to get back to basics, governing well, focusing on healthcare and education, tackling child poverty and working on a just transition. Although I firmly believe the SNP was exemplary in avoiding NHS strikes over the winter of 2022 through communication with unions, I still think the Scottish Government must be more willing to co-operate with all trade unions on an open-door policy. Presenting the party as a bastion of socialism, with great policies on prescriptions and free social care, is all well and good, but being inherently pro-trade unions is the bedrock of being a democratic socialist government.

If last night is anything to go by, the SNP will need to fight for its life in the Scottish parliamentary elections. But if things can turn around drastically in the next two years in terms of highly competent governing, the fight might not be so hard.

READ MORE: Highlands seat set for recount TOMORROW amid tight contest

But I believe that a settled will can be reached, but only with exemplary highly competent governing, no more scandals, and the renewal of public trust in our elected representatives.

Until 2026, Scotland still can govern as a left-of-centre party, with policies on healthcare that make many of my American friends gasp in awe. But the overall picture in the UK is changing.

The election of five Reform MPs is simply terrifying, mirroring the lurch to the far right that we’ve been seeing in European nations such as France.

The tumultuous election campaign saw Nigel Farage shift from honorary president to leader of the Reform party. The airtime, platforming and press attention that Farage gained in no doubt emboldened and encouraged his mid-campaign move to leader.

Previously running as a candidate seven times, I had discounted Farage as farcical electoral asbestos. Alarmingly, Farage seems to connect with younger pro-Brexit right-wing voters, as exemplified by "Make Me A Prime Minister" contestant Alice Grant. Would Reform have gained 14% of the vote share if Richard Tice remained leader of the party, or is this the inflammatory Farage Slick-TikTok machine in full flow?

Either way, we have nine capable MPs who will hold the new Labour government to account, will vehemently oppose the inhumane immigration policies of Reform and the Conservatives, and have a principled stance on the conflict on Gaza . Let’s get behind them. The dream of a fully self-determining Scotland is not over, but we must reset and regroup.