SNP Wins Fifth Consecutive Scottish Parliament Term; Swinney Revives IndyRef2 Push

The Scottish National Party secured a fifth consecutive term running the Scottish government in the 7 May 2026 Scottish Parliament elections, though again without an outright majority. With Scottish Green Party support maintaining the pro-independence bloc's control of Holyrood, First Minister John Swinney pledged to bring forward a motion in the Scottish Parliament on its first sitting day to begin the process of seeking a Section 30 order from Westminster for an independence referendum — with a potential vote targeted for 2028. Labour's catastrophic result in England simultaneously weakened Starmer's political authority to block such a request and emboldened the independence movement, reigniting one of the most serious constitutional questions facing the UK.