General election 2019: SNP victory a ‘clear mandate for indyref2’ says Sturgeon
The Scottish National Party has made huge gains across Scotland this election winning an additional 15 seats to bring the party’s total up to 48 reigniting talk of indyref2.
Leader Nicola Sturgeon said it sent a “clear message” that there is a mandate for a second independence referendum.
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The Scottish first minister saw her party’s share of the vote increase by 8.1 per cent to a total of 45 per cent in Scotland.
Sturgeon said the result had exceeded her expectations as the outcomes left Conservatives with just six seats, the Liberal Democrats four and Labour one.
Lib Dem leader Jo Swinson was also ousted from her seat East Dunbartonshire.
Sturgeon had already said she would request the power to hold indyref2 from the Prime Minister before Christmas.
Speaking as the results came in, she said she realised that a vote for her party was not necessarily a vote for independence, but added that it was a “clear endorsement Scotland should get to decide our future and not have it decided for us”.
Speaking in the wake of an emphatic victory for her party, she said: “Scotland has sent a very clear message – we don’t want a Boris Johnson government, we don’t want to leave the EU.
“The results across the rest of the UK are grim but underlines the importance of Scotland having a choice.
“Boris Johnson has a mandate to take England out of the EU but he must accept that I have a mandate to give Scotland a choice for an alternative future.”
The Conservatives have so far blocked every effort from the SNP to hold a second referendum, with the Boris Johnson keen to keep the union intact.