Reform UK and Labour vie for second place in Scottish Parliament election

Reform were on 15 MSPs, with Labour on 17 MSPs with just one region to declare. But both were over 40 seats behind the SNP.

Scots leader Malcolm Offord said: “I think from a personal perspective, being the ambitious chap I am, we wanted to get into the 20s, but we have to accept that we end up around 16 or so, two per region.

“As a new party that gives us a really good group to establish a base.”

He added: “[It’s] a very solid base for a new party, newly established, coming into Holyrood with a good group of MSPs, highly likely to be the third biggest party.

“And our job will simply be to hold the government to account.”

All of the Reform MSPs were elected on the list as the party won no constituencies. It finished second in four seats - losing one by just a few hundred votes.

The right-wing party won three list MSPs in South Scotland and three in Central Scotland and Lothians West.

It got two each in West Scotland, Glasgow, Mid Scotland and Fife and North East Scotland and the Highlands and Islands.

The party got one in Edinburgh and Lothians East. The Highlands and Islands region was still to declare.

Scots leader Malcolm Offord won a seat of the West Scotland list alongside David Smith.

Former Tory MSP Graham Simpson was elected in Central Scotland and Lothians West, as were Mandy Lindsay and Amanda Bland.

Thomas Kerr - the party’s de facto deputy Scottish leader - was elected in Glasgow. Kim Schmulian was also elected in the city.

Senga Beresford - who supported the far-right Tommy Robinson on social media and called for the deportation of British Muslims - was elected in South Scotland.

David Kirkwood who voted Yes in 2014 and said he hasn’t changed his mind on independence was elected in the same region, as was Jamie Langan.

Duncan Massey and Mark Simpson were elected in North East Scotland, as were Helen McDade and Julie McDougall in Mid Scotland and Fife. In Edinburgh, Angela Ross was elected.

Reform UK came second in four constituencies - nearly winning one of them.

The right-wing party was just a few hundred votes away from winning Banffshire and Buchan Coast - but the SNP held on.

It also came second in the Ayrshire seat of Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley, Glasgow Baillieston and Shettleston, and Mid Fife and Glenrothes.

In other places, they were disappointed to come third.

Lord Offord - although he was elected on the West Scotland list - was "disappointed" with his constituency result.

He came third in Inverclyde, behind the SNP and Labour.

The Nationalists' Stuart McMillan won with 14,193 votes and Labour’s Francesca Brennan received 8,876 votes.

The Reform UK Scottish leader said soon after the result was declared that he was "disappointed" and that the election had "come a bit to quick" for his party.

He told the BBC: "I never like coming third in anything so yes I am disappointed to come third. Obviously we knew that the SNP have got a stranglehold here but we did want to try at least to come second, so yeah I’m disappointed to come third.

"I think we’re going to get a good result overall when we get the regional vote but I personally said that I wanted to win constituencies and we’re just not getting the breakthrough in the constituencies. Maybe it’s just come a bit too quick for Reform this time around."