SNP says independence is a 'hard sell' after 38 seats lost

The SNP has just 18 months to save the case for Scottish independence after suffering a drubbing in the general election, its Westminster leader Stephen Flynn has admitted.

- DAVID MADDOX

The nationalists lost their position as Scotland's dominant party in the House of Commons, losing 38 of 47 their seats - mostly to a resurgent Labour - and dealing a huge blow to their hopes of securing another independence referendum. It's their lowest number of seats at Westminster since 2010, and means they have dropped from the third-largest party, with a question every week at PMQs, to the fourth-largest.

With all but one of the 57 Scottish seats declared, Labour hold 37, the SNP nine and the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats each have five; a recount in the Inverness, Skye and West Rossshire seat will not restart until 10.30am today. Labour is now the biggest party in Scotland, England and Wales - the first party to achieve this since Tony Blair's Labour government of 2001.

Mr Flynn and party leader John Swinney, who stepped in just weeks ago to replace Humza Yousaf, both admitted their case for independence had suffered a massive setback. But both insisted that a mandate for another referendum on Scotland's future lies in the Holyrood elections due to take place in 2026.