Results from the local elections in Scotland show there is ‘zero support’ for another independence referendum, MPs have said.
While Nicola Sturgeon’s SNP increased its seat tally, it was only backed by just over a third of voters.
Meanwhile, Scottish Labour under Anas Sarwar saw healthy gains and came within a hair’s width of taking Glasgow, after adding five councillors to give them a total of 36, compared to the SNP’s 37.
It also put Labour in second place nationally, after they were bumped to third by the Tories under Ruth Davidson some years earlier.
It came after Mr Sarwar said constitutional issues like independence did not get him ‘out of bed in the mornings’, before insisting he was completely against another referendum.
The former dentist and scion of a wealthy Glasgow family led a high-profile campaign, attacking Sturgeon for what he said were failures on issues including NHS and education.
While Nicola Sturgeon’s SNP increased its seat tally, it was only backed by just over a third of voters.
Meanwhile, Scottish Labour under Anas Sarwar (pictured) saw healthy gains and came within a hair’s width of taking Glasgow, after adding five councillors to give them a total of 36, compared to the SNP’s 37
Ms Sturgeon said she was ‘thrilled’ with the results, saying her nationalist party had ‘won by a country mile’, sending a ‘strong message’ to Boris Johnson.
But after all the tallies were voted, it was clear that the drop in Tory support – the Conservatives lost 63 councillors – benefitted the other main parties by a much greater margin.
While the SNP picked up 22 new seats, Labour and the Lib Dems both gained 20 each while the Green Party picked up 16.
MP for Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale David Mundell, the former Tory Scottish secretary, said bluntly: ‘This is not an endorsement for independence. It has absolutely zero support from the voters.’
Meanwhile Labour’s Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, argued the results proved the voters were ‘suffering fatigue’ over the independence question.
‘They are tired of the constant banging of the constitutional drum,’ he said.
The elections have raised hopes that Labour’s traditional supporters are ‘coming home’, after switching to Conservative in a bid to beat the nationalists five years ago.
Following their boost north of the border, shadow health secretary Wes Streeting rejected any potential alliances with the SNP to help Labour win over Scotland in the future.
He told Sky News: ‘We’re in completely different places from the SNP on the fundamental issue of the future of the United Kingdom.
‘No deals, no pacts, no compromise on that. We’re in it to win it. We want to win the next general election outright.
‘I think these results do provide us the foundation in which to do that. But we’re not interested in backroom deals or stitch-ups and when it comes to the SNP specifically, we are very, very clear about where we stand on the future of the United Kingdom, the future of the Union.’
Research by Survation in April found 53 per cent would vote ‘no’ in a separatist referendum, excluding those who said they were undecided
Wes Streeting said that Labour was giving the SNP a ‘run for its money’ following the results in Scotland.
The shadow health secretary told Sky News: ‘The Conservatives in Scotland have fallen far back, not least because they’ve been trashed by their own leadership in Westminster and have a weakened, spineless leader in Scotland.
‘I think, actually, it’s the Labour Party now that provides the way forward for the future of the United Kingdom, where people can actually vote not just to oppose the Tories in Scotland through the SNP, they can vote to replace the Tories in Scotland by voting Labour at the next general election.’
Sturgeon suffered a blow last month when a poll found support for independence falling, with a majority of Scots wanting to stay in the UK.
Research by Survation found 53 per cent would vote ‘no’ in a separatist referendum, excluding those who said they were undecided.
The figure was up a point on last year, with trackers showing unionists consistently ahead on the question.
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