Scotland’s nationalists win vote to set stage for a second independence referendum
- The outcome sets up an escalating stand-off with UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson over Scotland’s constitutional future
- Scotland’s First Minister Nicola Sturgeon will use her mandate to pressure the British government to agree to another referendum
Scotland is headed for a protracted showdown with the UK government over the right to an independence referendum after leader Nicola Sturgeon’s nationalists scored a decisive election victory.
The BBC projected the Scottish National Party won 63 of the 129 seats in the Scottish Parliament, matching its performance in 2016 and giving it a fourth term in power. It left Sturgeon two seats short of a majority, though the pro-independence Green Party increased the number of its politicians to nine, based on the broadcaster’s projection.
The election was dominated by a single theme: whether the nation of 5.5 million should get another vote on leaving the UK in the wake of Brexit. The outcome sets up an escalating stand-off with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson over Scotland’s constitutional future.
We can say there clearly is going to be a constitutional clash at some point between this parliament and the UK government.
Sturgeon will use her mandate to pressure the British government to agree to another referendum. In an interview with The Telegraph newspaper published on Saturday, Johnson suggested he would reject calls even if the SNP secured a majority in the Scottish Parliament. A referendum right now would be “irresponsible and reckless,” he said.
But if Johnson wants to stop Scottish legislation on a referendum, he will have to go to the Supreme Court to challenge it, Sturgeon told ITV News. “The absurdity of a position where a PM was going to court to overturn the democratic decision of the Scottish people?” Sturgeon said. “I don’t think we’ll get to that position.”
