LABOUR BOOM IS A BUST FOR SNP

Exit poll predicts Nats are poised to lose 38 seats

- CHRIS MCCALL

LABOUR was on the brink of major comeback in Scotland last night with the party set to make sweeping gains from the SNP.

poll An exit published at 10pm predicted the Nationalists could be reduced to just 10 seats down from the 48 they won in 2019.

According to the poll Labour could return around 30 MPs in what would be its best showing at a general election in Scotland since 2010.

It will cap a remarkable comeback for Anas Sarwar's party after it returned just a solitary MP, Ian Murray in Edinburgh South, in 2019.

Keir Starmer will also become the first prime minister in 14 years who has been elected with substantial support in Scotland.

But the likely result will be a bitter blow to John Swinney who had hoped to stem the SNP's losses after he replaced Humza Yousaf as leader in May.

As the polls closed, the First Minister said: "The SNP has fought a positive, upbeat campaign, firmly rooted in the values of the people of Scotland on the impending Westminster cuts to public services, the damage of Brexit and where decisions about Scotland should be taken.

"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 and, crucially, broken the conspiracy of silence between Labour and the Tories on the disastrous impact of Brexit and the billions of cuts to public services coming down the line."