Lib Dem Liam McArthur first MSP returned – winning with record vote share

Liberal Democrat Liam McArthur is the first MSP to be returned to Holyrood – winning a record share of the vote in the process.

Mr McArthur polled 70% of the vote – the biggest share in the Scottish Parliament’s history.

But while the Liberal Democrats celebrated his victory in Orkney, the party lost the Shetland seat – which it had held since the first Holyrood elections in 1999 – to the SNP.

The SNP’s Hannah Goodlad won 47% of the vote there, putting her ahead of the Liberal Democrat candidate Emma Macdonald, who was contesting the seat after the previous MSP, Beatrice Wishart, stepped down.

Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Alex Cole-Hamilton said however he was “thrilled to see Liam McArthur returning to the Scottish Parliament with the biggest share of the vote in the history of Holyrood”.

The Orkney and Shetland seats were the first of Holyrood’s 73 constituencies to declare their results after polling day on Thursday.

Unlike most previous Scottish Parliament elections, counting of the ballots took place the following day, with the traditional overnight count abandoned.

Results from constituency seats across Scotland will be declared on Friday afternoon, with the 56 MSPs elected on the eight regional lists announced after those.

The results come as John Swinney and the SNP are hoping for a record-breaking fifth consecutive win at Holyrood.

Scottish Labour meanwhile will be hoping it can buck the trend which has seen the party lose hundreds of council seats in local government elections in England.

The Senedd election in Wales also looks likely to go badly for Labour, with expectations the party will be out of power in Cardiff for the first time in the history of devolution.

Speaking just before counting go under way, former Scottish finance secretary Shona Robison – who did not stand for re-election – said the SNP is “optimistic that we’ll win the election for the fifth time in a row, which would be absolutely unprecedented”.

Speaking on BBC Radio Scotland’s Breakfast, she added: “We have fought hard in this campaign and have fought for every single vote – and we need to see what that adds up to today.”

Liz Lloyd, who was the chief of staff for Nicola Sturgeon when she was first minister, said the SNP could finish the election 30 seats ahead of their nearest rival.

Highlighting that Mr Swinney took over the top job just two years ago, she told the same programme the difference in the party between now and then “is quite remarkable”.

Ms Lloyd said: “The transformation John Swinney has taken the party on, steadying the ship, reviving the entire campaigning machinery of the SNP, to get to the point where even if they don’t get the majority, where they are winning a fifth term, where he is winning his first mandate as first minister, it’s a huge thing.

“I don’t think anyone in the SNP if they fall a few short of a majority will think somehow they have failed, if they have won the election in that manner.”

Former Scottish Labour communications director Alan Roden meanwhile said Anas Sarwar and his party had been “dealt a very challenging hand” in the Holyrood campaign.

Also speaking on BBC Scotland’s Breakfast programme, he said: “The primary challenge is the deep unpopularity of Keir Starmer and his Government in Westminster.”

Mr Roden said he expects Scottish Labour to have the “best result” for the party in the United Kingdom, but added: “Undoubtedly it is going to be a challenging day.”

Labour has also been facing a challenge from the rising popularity of Reform UK – with Nigel Farage’s party set to win its first ever group of MSPs.

If the party – led in Scotland by Lord Malcolm Offord – does well, it could finish the day as the second-largest party in the Scottish Parliament.

The Liberal Democrats and the Greens are also hoping to make gains, while the Tories, according to the polls, could return their worst ever Holyrood result since devolution.