Scottish National Party (SNP)
Scotland's governing nationalist party; won 58 Holyrood seats in May 2026, governing as a minority.
On 22 September 2026, Holyrood passed John Swinney's right-to-decide motion by 84 votes to 18 after all 17 Labour MSPs swung behind it, although Westminster still refuses the SNP a Section 30 order.
Last refreshed: 7 October 2026 · Appears in 1 active topic
Can the SNP build a pro-independence majority from 58 seats when Westminster keeps refusing Section 30?
Timeline for Scottish National Party (SNP)
Lost two Edinburgh seats and gained one in South Lanarkshire
UK Local Elections 2026: Marra's MSPs vote for right to decideScottish Labour opens a contest Sarwar left early
UK Local Elections 2026Burnham rules out a Scottish vote
UK Local Elections 2026Led the pro-independence bloc that passed the 72-55 motion
UK Local Elections 2026: Holyrood demands a vote it cannot forceFiled Section 30 request from 58-seat minority position
UK Local Elections 2026: Swinney's Section 30 ask, trigger missedBackground
The Scottish National Party has governed Scotland continuously since 2007, the longest-serving party of government in the devolved era. Founded in 1934, it won its first Holyrood majority under Alex Salmond in 2011 and secured the 2014 independence referendum, which it lost 55 to 45. John Swinney has led the party and served as First Minister since May 2024. It holds nine Westminster seats from the 2024 general election.
The party took 58 seats in the 129-member Scottish Parliament at the 7 May 2026 election, short of the 65 a majority needs by seven, and now governs as a minority that relies on Scottish Green votes to pass business.
Independence remains its defining aim, but the Scotland Act 1998 leaves the power to authorise a binding referendum with Westminster. Holyrood's May demand for a Section 30 order was rejected the same day.
Swinney's motion wins Labour votes
Three days after Michael Marra won the Scottish Labour leadership, the SNP brought its motion on Scotland's right to choose its constitutional future to Holyrood on 22 September. MSPs had earlier backed Labour's child-poverty wording by 91 votes to 12. The SNP, Labour and the Scottish Greens then carried the amended motion by 84 votes to 18, over the opposition of the Scottish Conservatives and Scottish Liberal Democrats.
For the SNP, the vote put its constitutional language on the record with the support of its main rival. It does not commit Labour to an independence referendum, and Reform UK's 17 MSPs voted in none of the five divisions.
The SNP lacks a referendum route
Swinney was sworn in on 14 May 2026 and promised to seek a Section 30 order within a week and to publish a draft referendum bill inside 100 days, although the SNP's 58 Holyrood seats lay seven short of the 65-seat threshold he had set. On 26 May Holyrood voted 72 to 55 for the request, resting on the combined SNP and Green majority; Downing Street rejected it the same day through a spokesperson.
On 7 July, Andy Burnham ruled out a Section 30 order in remarks to Scottish Labour MPs, offering enhanced devolution in its place. Because only Westminster can make such a referendum legally binding, the refusal closes the SNP's route to one for now.