UK’s unity on the line as SNP wins early seats

• SNP wants to hold 2nd independence vote by 2023  

• UK PM Johnson says he won't allow another referendum

Scotland's main pro-independence party enjoyed early successes yesterday in crucial Scottish parliament election results which could determine the future of the United Kingdom, although its leader cautioned the result remained "on a knife edge". 

The ruling Scottish National Party (SNP) will seek to hold another referendum on independence by 2023 if there is a pro-independence majority returned to the devolved 129-seat parliament - setting up a potential legal showdown with Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who says he will refuse any such vote.

The SNP won 10 of the first 11 seats to be declared, although there was an increase in support in some areas for opposition pro-union parties, indicating the final outcome could be very close.

"A majority has always been a very, very long shot," said Nicola Sturgeon, Scotland's First Minister and SNP leader.

When asked what it would mean if the SNP did win a majority, Johnson said he would wait and see what happens in the next few hours.

"I don't think people want much more constitutional wrangling right now," he told reporters.

Britain's departure from the European Union, a move opposed by an overwhelming majority in Scotland, a perception that the Scottish government has handled the Covid-19 crisis well, and antipathy to Johnson's Conservative government in Westminster have all bolstered support for the independence movement.

If there was another referendum and the Scots voted to leave, it would mark the biggest shock to the United Kingdom since Irish independence a century ago.

The SNP need to gain at least four more seats to win an overall majority of 65, but could rely on the backing of the pro-independence Green Party, which took five seats in 2016, to pursue a second referendum.

Results from about two-thirds of the 73 constituency seats are due later yesterday. The remainder and regional seats – allocated on a complicated proportional representation system based on a second vote – will be announced today.