First minister Nicola Sturgeon reiterated that Scotland will have a referendum on independence "within the next parliamentary term" after the Scottish parliament election votes were tallied on Saturday.
The SNP fell one seat short of a majority, winning 64 of the 129 seats, but the pro-independence Scottish Green Party won eight seats.
Sturgeon said that the referendum would happen some time after the pandemic, and the timing of a referendum would be decided by a simple majority in the Scottish Parliament.
The election saw a historic voter turnout for a Scottish parliament election of 63%.
The popular vote in the election, and recent polls, suggest the country is almost evenly split between those who want independence for Scotland and those who want to remain in the United Kingdom.
In the 2014 independence referendum, Scotland voted by 55% to 45% to stay in the UK.
Edinburgh and Lothian Results
In Edinburgh, a key result was Angus Robertson's win in Edinburgh Central for the SNP, a seat that was previously held by former Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson. Scott Douglas was standing in place of Ruth Davidson who stood down to take a seat in the House of Lords.
Here are the results:
- Edinburgh Central Constituency: Angus Robertson, Scottish National Party
- Edinburgh Eastern Constituency: Ash Denham, Scottish National Party
- Edinburgh Northern & Leith Constituency: Ben Macpherson, Scottish National Party
- Edinburgh Pentlands Constituency: Gordon MacDonald, Scottish National Party
- Edinburgh South Constituency: Daniel Johnson, Scottish Labour Party
- Edinburgh Western Constituency: Alex Cole-Hamilton, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Lothian Region List Results
(Based on votes from the nine Lothian Region constituencies: Edinburgh Central, Edinburgh Eastern, Edinburgh Northern & Leith, Edinburgh Pentlands, Edinburgh South, Edinburgh Western, Midlothian North & Musselburgh, Almond Valley and Linlithgow. 395,037 votes cast across region; turnout: 64.2%)
Candidate and Party
- Miles Briggs, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
- Alison Johnstone, Scottish Green Party
- Sue Webber, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
- Sarah Boyack, Scottish Labour Party
- Jeremy Balfour, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
- Foysol Choudhury Scottish Labour Party
- Lorna Slater, Scottish Green Party
Returning Officer Andrew Kerr announced the results for Edinburgh Central, Edinburgh Southern and Edinburgh Western on Friday 7 May and the results for Edinburgh Eastern, Edinburgh Pentlands and Edinburgh Northern and Leith as well as the list/Region vote were declared on Saturday 8 May.
This year more than 300 people worked at the election count at the Royal Highland Centre, while a further 900 worked during the day at the city's 140 polling places.