SNP hopes of winning another Holyrood majority were fading last night, although the outcome of the most consequential election of devolution remains in the balance.

Follow our Scottish Parliamentary election tracker for live results, and see which seats have been called so far and who has been elected in your area.

Follow along with The Herald for all the latest news, reaction and analysis as Scotland goes to the polls in the Holyrood election.

Check how many seats are needed for a majority as results from the Scottish Parliament elections come in.

The SNP’s John Swinney has called on Boris Johnson to “support the democratic will of the people of Scotland” and take forward a second independence referendum.

The SNP is the only party to make gains so far in the election, with more counts to come tomorrow, including the results of the regional list

SCOTLAND'S crisis hit lifeline ferry network has come under fresh fire after a new series of breakdowns and setbacks with five of its fleet leading to service cancellations and restrictions as new pressure is put on ministers to take urgent action...

AS Scotland enters its second day of election counting, Nicola Sturgeon’s hopes of winning an overall majority for the SNP at Holyrood are hanging in the balance.

THE harrowing of Hartlepool was a long time in the making for the Labour Party but, lost in their acquiescent complacency under Sir Keir Starmer, they never saw it coming.

THE big Scottish story? That high turnout. Folk queuing in the rain, determined to influence how Scotland should be run: their schools, their hospitals, their jobs. Mid crisis, political choice matters.

AFTER weeks of denial and downplaying, India’s ministry of health this week conceded that its ‘double mutant’ variant could be driving a surge in Covid cases.

AS far as political drama goes, it was a day that saved the best for last.

ISLAND businesses face the loss of hundreds of thousands of pounds over the coming days and weeks as ferry disruption dampens hopes of an early bounce-back with the rest of country edging out of lockdown.

I’M still reeling from the further level of care I’ve started to receive from this morning.

IN Danny Boyle’s 28 Days Later a character wakes from a coma to find London deserted.

The latest weekly coronavirus figures have been released, highlighting hotspots of Covid-19 per 100,000 of the population and the risk in each neighbourhood.

Around two Scots a day died by suicide in 2019, and that figure is expected to rise when the 2020 numbers are released in June.

ALEX Salmond has admitted his Alba Party is unlikely to make an electoral breakthrough as initial results showed it has failed to attract support.

Mild Covid infection is very unlikely to cause lasting damage to the structure or function of the heart, according to a new study.

NOW that Labour has lost another English "Red Wall" constituency – Darlington – to the Conservatives, it seems clear that the right wing is firmly embedded at Westminster.

IF we continue to be good and obedient citizens, Boris Johnson says we might be allowed to kiss and embrace our family and friends from June 21.

ISLE of Harris gin has been launched in the US market, where it is now being stocked in retail outlets in Texas and California.

Bar Brett

“I wanted to sum up the seaside in all its moods,” Anne Ward says of her new book of photographs. “You never quite know what you're going to get – fun, tacky, peaceful, bracing, sometimes all of the above.”

Monkeying around

THE Jersey fishing stand-off and the UK’s relationship with its neighbours was the main issue raised by columnists and contributors in the newspapers.

LOTS of 1980s pop nostalgia on the radio last weekend. On Sunday Kirsty Wark corralled four members of Madness to look back over their long career in The Reunion (Radio 4), while on Radio Scotland the night before Ricky Ross talked to a very chipp...

AS Microsoft billionaire Bill Gates and his wife of 27 years part ways, surprising aspects of their long marriage have emerged, including the fact he went on regular holidays with his ex-girlfriend - a revelation that sent social media into overdr...

WE do not yet know the final results of all Thursday’s various elections across the UK. In Scotland, however, there has never been any serious doubt about which party will gain the most seats and form a government: the question has been whether the...

Tesco has around 19 million Clubcard members across the UK.

Martin Lewis has issued a warning to shoppers who rely on paying by cash.

Welcome to our Covid-19 live blog, bringing you all the latest updates from across Scotland.

NICOLA Sturgeon has downplayed the prospects of the SNP winning an absolute majority at Holyrood, calling it a “very, very long shot”.

THE SNP has taken the Ayr constituency from the Conservatives.

NICOLA Sturgeon has hailed voters for rejecting a "far-right thug" at the ballot box as she held her Glasgow Southside seat with a comfortable majority.

THE SNP has secured its first gain of the Holyrood election after winning East Lothian.

LABOUR leader Sir Keir Starmer has admitted his party has "lost the trust of the working people" after they lost the Hartlepool by-election.

Edinburgh-based 7N Architects have lodged plans for more than 200 homes and commercial space in the Scottish capital.

Police intervened as a candidate in the Southside seat in Glasgow approached the count hall with followers doing what looked like Nazi salutes.

A health board has urged the public to "set aside rumours" after bizzare claims that Lateral Flow Devices could be “fooled” using tomato ketchup.

Sean Orman, 30, was found guilty at the High Court in Edinburgh on Friday of shooting dead Mr Welsh, 48, on his doorstep in Edinburgh’s west end in.

The Prime Minister said the replica reminded him of Superintendent Ted Hastings from Line Of Duty

WHATEVER the precise outcome of the election, one thing is already certain: there will be a pro-independence majority in Holyrood.

ABSENCE, they say, makes the heart grow fonder, but not it seems when it comes to Boris Johnson and Scotland.

THE latest poll has voters telling the SNP to focus on recovery from the pandemic rather than the constitution.

Scotland’s polling expert Sir John Curtice has weighed in with his election prediction as votes begin to be counted across the country.

An election count has been paused in Dumfries due to a power cut at DG1 Leisure Complex.

ALEX Salmond appears to be dampening expectations of a breakthrough for his Alba Party, despite previously talking up the prospects of a pro-independence "supermajority".

More than 230 fresh cases of coronavirus have been identified in Scotland in the past 24 hours.

HARD cheese Glenn Close. You may be one of the world’s greatest actors, but you’ve never won an Oscar. You’re not getting in, I’m afraid. What’s that, Sigourney Weaver? You’ve been nominated for three Oscars. Didn’t win any, though, ...