# 2019 United Kingdom general election in Scotland

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The 2019 United Kingdom general election was held on Thursday 12 December 2019, two and a half years after the previous general election in June 2017. The Scottish National Party (SNP) received the most votes (45%, up 8.1% from the previous election) and won 48 out of 59 seats—a gain of 13 over those won in 2017, and 81% of the Scottish seats in the House of Commons.
SNP gains came at the expense of both Labour and the Conservatives. The Tories remained the largest unionist party in Scotland even though they lost more than half of their Scottish seats, winning six compared to thirteen in 2017. Labour was reduced to only one seat, down from seven. The Liberal Democrats won four Scottish seats for no net change, although party leader Jo Swinson (herself the only major party leader to stand for election in Scotland) was unseated in her bid for re-election by her SNP challenger.
Labour's vote share was its lowest at a Westminster election in Scotland since December 1910.

## Political context

The June 2017 general election in Scotland was fought in the aftermath of the 2016 Scottish Parliament election, in which the SNP won a third term in government but lost its overall majority in the Scottish Parliament (although the proportional electoral system at Holyrood was intentionally designed to make it very difficult for any one party to gain a majority). The 2016 EU referendum was held a month later on Thursday 23 June, and the final result was for the United Kingdom to leave the EU, although Scotland voted 62.0% Remain. Negotiations then began after the invocation of Article 50 of the Treaty on European Union in March 2017, which was expected to dominate the snap general election campaign.
In March First Minister Nicola Sturgeon called for a second independence referendum due to Scotland's vote to remain in the EU the previous year. The result was the issue dominated the 2017 general election and, although the SNP remained the largest party, their number of seats was much reduced, with the Scottish Conservatives, Labour and the Liberal Democrats gaining a total of 21 seats. Former First Minister Alex Salmond and Westminster leader Angus Robertson were among those who lost their seats.
In the 2019 European Parliament election, Scottish Labour lost its two MEPs, UKIP lost its seat, the SNP increased its number to three, the Scottish Conservatives held theirs and the Brexit Party and Liberal Democrats gained one each.

## Opinion polling

| Pollster/client(s) | Date(s) conducted | Sample size | SNP | Con | Lab | Lib Dem | Green | UKIP | Change UK | Brexit | Other | Lead |
| 2019 general election | 12 Dec 2019 | – | 45.0% | 25.1% | 18.6% | 9.5% | 1.0% | 0.1% | – | 0.5% | 0.1% | 19.9% |
| Survation/The Courier | 10–11 Dec 2019 | 1,012 | 43% | 28% | 20% | 7% | 1% | – | – | 1% | – | 15% |
| YouGov (MRP) | 4–10 Dec 2019 | | 41% | 27% | 20% | 10% | 1% | – | – | 1% | – | 14% |
| Panelbase/Sunday Times | 3–6 Dec 2019 | 1,020 | 39% | 29% | 21% | 10% | 1% | – | – | 0% | 0% | 10% |
| YouGov/The Times | 29 Nov–3 Dec 2019 | 1,002 | 44% | 28% | 15% | 12% | 1% | – | – | 0% | 0% | 16% |
| Ipsos MORI/STV | 19–25 Nov 2019 | 1,046 | 44% | 26% | 16% | 11% | 2% | – | – | <1% | – | 18% |
| Panelbase/The Sunday Times | 20–22 Nov 2019 | 1,009 | 40% | 28% | 20% | 11% | <1% | – | – | <1% | <1% | 12% |
| | 15 Nov | Nominations for candidates close (final candidates announced) | Nominations for candidates close (final candidates announced) | Nominations for candidates close (final candidates announced) | Nominations for candidates close (final candidates announced) | Nominations for candidates close (final candidates announced) | Nominations for candidates close (final candidates announced) | Nominations for candidates close (final candidates announced) | Nominations for candidates close (final candidates announced) | Nominations for candidates close (final candidates announced) | Nominations for candidates close (final candidates announced) | Nominations for candidates close (final candidates announced) |
| | 6 Nov | Parliament dissolved and official campaign period begins | Parliament dissolved and official campaign period begins | Parliament dissolved and official campaign period begins | Parliament dissolved and official campaign period begins | Parliament dissolved and official campaign period begins | Parliament dissolved and official campaign period begins | Parliament dissolved and official campaign period begins | Parliament dissolved and official campaign period begins | Parliament dissolved and official campaign period begins | Parliament dissolved and official campaign period begins | Parliament dissolved and official campaign period begins |
| YouGov | 23–25 Oct 2019 | 1,060 | 42% | 22% | 12% | 13% | 4% | 0% | 0% | 6% | 0% | 20% |
| Panelbase/The Sunday Times | 9–11 Oct 2019 | 1,003 | 39% | 21% | 19% | 13% | 2% | – | – | 5% | – | 18% |
| YouGov/The Times | 30 Aug–3 Sep 2019 | 1,059 | 43% | 20% | 15% | 12% | 4% | 0% | 0% | 6% | 0% | 23% |
| | 29 Aug 2019 | Ruth Davidson resigns as leader of the Scottish Conservatives | Ruth Davidson resigns as leader of the Scottish Conservatives | Ruth Davidson resigns as leader of the Scottish Conservatives | Ruth Davidson resigns as leader of the Scottish Conservatives | Ruth Davidson resigns as leader of the Scottish Conservatives | Ruth Davidson resigns as leader of the Scottish Conservatives | Ruth Davidson resigns as leader of the Scottish Conservatives | Ruth Davidson resigns as leader of the Scottish Conservatives | Ruth Davidson resigns as leader of the Scottish Conservatives | Ruth Davidson resigns as leader of the Scottish Conservatives | Ruth Davidson resigns as leader of the Scottish Conservatives |
| Panelbase/The Sunday Times | 18–20 Jun 2019 | 1,024 | 38% | 18% | 17% | 13% | 2% | <1% | <1% | 9% | – | 20% |
| Panelbase/The Sunday Times | 14–17 May 2019 | 1,021 | 38% | 18% | 19% | 10% | 3% | 1% | 2% | 9% | <1% | 19% |
| YouGov/The Times | 24–26 Apr 2019 | 1,029 | 43% | 20% | 17% | 9% | 3% | 1% | 2% | 4% | 0% | 23% |
| Panelbase/The Sunday Times | 18–24 Apr 2019 | 1,018 | 38% | 22% | 21% | 6% | 2% | 2% | 3% | 5% | <1% | 16% |
| Survation/Scotland in Union | 18–23 Apr 2019 | 1,012 | 41% | 22% | 24% | 8% | – | – | – | – | 5% | 17% |
| Panelbase/Wings Over Scotland | 28 Feb–6 Mar 2019 | 1,002 | 37% | 27% | 22% | 7% | 2% | 2% | 2% | – | <1% | 10% |
| Survation/Scottish Daily Mail | 1–4 Mar 2019 | 1,011 | 40% | 24% | 23% | 8% | – | – | – | – | 4% | 16% |
| Panelbase/The Sunday Times | 30 Nov–5 Dec 2018 | 1,028 | 37% | 26% | 26% | 6% | 2% | 2% | – | – | <1% | 11% |
| Survation/Scotland in Union | 9–13 Nov 2018 | 1,013 | 39% | 26% | 24% | 8% | – | – | – | – | 3% | 13% |
| Panelbase/Constitutional Commission | 2–7 Nov 2018 | 1,050 | 37% | 28% | 25% | 7% | 2% | 2% | – | – | 3% | 9% |
| Survation/Channel 4 | 20 Oct–2 Nov 2018 | 1,734 | 40% | 27% | 23% | 7% | 1% | 1% | – | – | 1% | 13% |
| Survation/Daily Record | 18–21 Oct 2018 | 1,017 | 36% | 27% | 26% | 7% | 1% | – | – | – | 1% | 9% |
| Survation/SNP | 3–5 Oct 2018 | 1,013 | 37% | 28% | 26% | 6% | – | – | – | – | 2% | 9% |
| Panelbase/The Sunday Times | 28 Sep–4 Oct 2018 | 1,024 | 38% | 27% | 24% | 6% | 2% | 2% | – | – | <1% | 11% |
| Survation/The Sunday Post | 28 Sep–2 Oct 2018 | 1,036 | 41% | 26% | 24% | 7% | – | – | – | – | 3% | 15% |
| Survation/Daily Record | 5–10 Jul 2018 | 1,004 | 42% | 24% | 23% | 8% | – | – | – | – | 3% | 18% |
| Panelbase/Wings Over Scotland | 21–26 Jun 2018 | 1,018 | 38% | 27% | 25% | 7% | 2% | <1% | – | – | <1% | 11% |
| Panelbase/The Sunday Times | 8–13 Jun 2018 | 1,021 | 38% | 27% | 27% | 6% | 2% | <1% | – | – | <1% | 11% |
| YouGov/The Times | 1–5 Jun 2018 | 1,075 | 40% | 27% | 23% | 7% | 2% | 1% | – | – | 1% | 13% |
| Panelbase/The Sunday Times | 23–28 Mar 2018 | 1,037 | 36% | 28% | 27% | 6% | 2% | 1% | – | – | <1% | 8% |
| Ipsos MORI/STV | 5–11 Mar 2018 | 1,050 | 39% | 25% | 26% | 6% | 4% | 0% | – | – | 0% | 13% |
| Survation/Daily Record | 24–28 Jan 2018 | 1,029 | 39% | 24% | 27% | 7% | – | – | – | – | 3% | 12% |
| YouGov/The Times | 12–16 Jan 2018 | 1,002 | 36% | 23% | 28% | 6% | 3% | 3% | – | – | 0% | 8% |
| Survation/The Sunday Post | 1–5 Dec 2017 | 1,006 | 38% | 24% | 29% | 7% | – | – | – | – | 3% | 9% |
| Survation/Daily Record | 27–30 Nov 2017 | 1,017 | 37% | 25% | 28% | 7% | – | – | – | – | 3% | 9% |
| | 18 Nov 2017 | Richard Leonard officially becomes leader of Scottish Labour | Richard Leonard officially becomes leader of Scottish Labour | Richard Leonard officially becomes leader of Scottish Labour | Richard Leonard officially becomes leader of Scottish Labour | Richard Leonard officially becomes leader of Scottish Labour | Richard Leonard officially becomes leader of Scottish Labour | Richard Leonard officially becomes leader of Scottish Labour | Richard Leonard officially becomes leader of Scottish Labour | Richard Leonard officially becomes leader of Scottish Labour | Richard Leonard officially becomes leader of Scottish Labour | Richard Leonard officially becomes leader of Scottish Labour |
| YouGov/The Times | 2–5 Oct 2017 | 1,135 | 40% | 23% | 30% | 5% | 1% | 1% | – | – | 0% | 10% |
| Survation/Scottish Daily Mail | 8–12 Sep 2017 | 1,016 | 39% | 26% | 26% | 7% | – | – | – | – | 2% | 13% |
| Panelbase/The Sunday Times | 31 Aug–7 Sep 2017 | 1,021 | 41% | 27% | 24% | 6% | 2% | – | – | – | – | 14% |
| 2017 general election | 8 Jun 2017 | – | 36.9% | 28.6% | 27.1% | 6.8% | 0.2% | 0.2% | – | – | 0.3% | 8.3% |

### Seat projections

| Pollster/client(s) | Date(s) conducted | Con | Lab | SNP | Lib Dem | Green | Brexit | Other |
| 2019 general election | 12 December 2019 | 6 | 1 | 48 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| YouGov MRP | 10 December 2019 | 9 | 5 | 41 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Ipsos MORI Scotland/STV Archived 28 November 2019 at the Wayback Machine | 28 November 2019 | 6 | 1 | 48 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| YouGov MRP | 27 November 2019 | 11 | 2 | 42 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2017 general election | 8 June 2017 | 13 | 7 | 35 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 |

## Campaign events
### Television debates

Like the rest of the United Kingdom, Scottish broadcasters hosted television debates. On 20 November, BBC Scotland's flagship political programme, Debate Night, moderated by Stephen Jardine, hosted a Young Voter's Special with representatives from the main parties where they debated in front of an audience of voters aged under 30. On 3 December, STV hosted a television debate moderated by Colin Mackay and BBC Scotland announced that they would host a debate on 10 December, two days before the election, moderated by Sarah Smith.
| Date | Organisers | Venue | Moderators | P Present S Standing-in NI Not invited A Absent I Invited | P Present S Standing-in NI Not invited A Absent I Invited | P Present S Standing-in NI Not invited A Absent I Invited | P Present S Standing-in NI Not invited A Absent I Invited | P Present S Standing-in NI Not invited A Absent I Invited | P Present S Standing-in NI Not invited A Absent I Invited |
| Date | Organisers | Venue | Moderators | Con | Lab | SNP | LD | Green | Brexit |
| 20 November | BBC Scotland (Debate Night) | Scottish Youth Theatre, Glasgow | Stephen Jardine | S Gallacher | S Sweeney | S Linden | S Cole-Hamilton | P Slater | NI |
| 26 November | Sky News | City Observatory, Edinburgh | Adam Boulton | S Greene | P Leonard | S Blackford | P Rennie | A Harvie | NI |
| 2 December | BBC (Victoria Derbyshire Election Debate) | North Berwick, East Lothian | Victoria Derbyshire | S Hoy | S Whitfield | S MacAskill | S O'Riordan | NI | NI |
| 3 December | STV | STV Pacific Quay, Glasgow | Colin Mackay | P Carlaw | P Leonard | P Sturgeon | P Rennie | NI | NI |
| 10 December | BBC Scotland | BBC Pacific Quay, Glasgow | Sarah Smith | P Carlaw | P Leonard | P Sturgeon | P Rennie | NI | NI |
The Scottish National Party have been represented in UK-wide television debates in addition due to being the third largest party in the House of Commons.

#### Reaction

| Date(s) administered | Poll source | Sample size | Carlaw | Leonard | Sturgeon | Rennie | Lead |
| STV Leaders Debate ||||||||
| 3 December 2019 | STV News Archived 3 December 2019 at the Wayback Machine | 7,170 | 10% | 5% | 80% | 5% | 70% |
| 3 December 2019 | HeraldScotland | 9,115 | 7% | 4% | 87% | 2% | 80% |
| BBC Leaders Debate ||||||||
| 10 December 2019 | HeraldScotland | 2,834 | 7% | 17% | 72% | 4% | 55% |

#### Leader's interviews

In addition to television debates, BBC Scotland and STV also interviewed Scottish party leaders on The Nine and Scotland Tonight in the run-up to the general election, alongside guest commentary too.
On 4 December, the four main Scottish party leaders took part in leaders interviews with fictional character Chief Commissioner Cameron Mickelson from the BBC Scotland sitcom, Scot Squad.

## Results

| Party | Party | Seats | Seats | Seats | Seats | Seats | Votes | Votes | Votes |
| Party | Party | Total | Gains | Losses | Net +/- | % seats | Total votes | % votes | Change |
| | SNP | 48 | 14 | 1 | 13 | 81.36 | 1,242,380 | 45.0 | 8.1 |
| | Conservative | 6 | 0 | 7 | 7 | 10.17 | 692,939 | 25.1 | 3.5 |
| | Labour | 1 | 0 | 6 | 6 | 1.69 | 511,838 | 18.6 | 8.5 |
| | Liberal Democrats | 4 | 1 | 1 | | 6.77 | 263,417 | 9.5 | 2.8 |
| | Scottish Green | 0 | 0 | 0 | | — | 28,122 | 1.0 | 0.8 |
| | Brexit Party | 0 | 0 | 0 | | — | 13,243 | 0.5 | new |
| | UKIP | 0 | 0 | 0 | | — | 3,303 | 0.1 | 0.1 |
| | Others | 0 | 0 | 0 | | — | 3,819 | 0.1 | 0.1 |
| | | | | | | | 2,759,061 | 68.1 | 1.6 |

### Votes summary

Popular vote
SNP
45.0%
Conservative
25.1%
Labour
18.6%
Liberal Democrats
9.5%
Greens
1.0%
Brexit Party
0.5%
UKIP
0.1%
Other
0.1% :
Parliament seats
SNP
81.4%
Conservative
10.2%
Liberal Democrats
6.8%
Labour
1.7% :

### List of constituencies by party

2019 UK general election (Scottish Westminster constituencies) :
| Party | Constituency |
| SNP | Aberdeen North Aberdeen South Airdrie and Shotts Angus Argyll and Bute Ayr, Carrick and Cumnock Central Ayrshire Coatbridge, Chryston and Bellshill Cumbernauld, Kilsyth and Kirkintilloch East Dundee East Dundee West Dunfermline and West Fife East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow East Dunbartonshire East Lothian East Renfrewshire Edinburgh East Edinburgh North and Leith Edinburgh South West Falkirk Glasgow Central Glasgow East Glasgow North Glasgow North East Glasgow North West Glasgow South Glasgow South West Glenrothes Gordon Inverclyde Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey Kilmarnock and Loudoun Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath Lanark and Hamilton East Linlithgow and East Falkirk Livingston Midlothian Motherwell and Wishaw Na h-Eileanan an Iar North Ayrshire and Arran Ochil and South Perthshire Paisley and Renfrewshire North Paisley and Renfrewshire South Perth and North Perthshire Rutherglen and Hamilton West Ross, Skye and Lochaber Stirling West Dunbartonshire |
| Conservative | Banff and Buchan Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk Dumfries and Galloway Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale Moray West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine |
| Liberal Democrats | Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross Edinburgh West North East Fife Orkney and Shetland |
| Labour | Edinburgh South |

## Target seats
### Scottish Conservatives

| Rank | Constituency | Winning party 2017 | Swing required | Conservatives' place 2019 | Result |
| 1 | Perth and North Perthshire | SNP | 0.02% | 2nd | SNP |
| 2 | Lanark and Hamilton East | SNP | 0.26% | 2nd | SNP |
| 3 | Edinburgh South West | SNP | 1.11% | 2nd | SNP |
| 4 | Argyll and Bute | SNP | 1.38% | 2nd | SNP |
| 5 | East Lothian | Labour | 3.24% | 3rd | SNP |
| 6 | Linlithgow and Falkirk East | SNP | 3.63% | 2nd | SNP |
| 7 | Ayrshire North and Arran | SNP | 3.66% | 2nd | SNP |
| 8 | Edinburgh North and Leith | SNP | 3.9% | 3rd | SNP |

### Scottish Labour

| Rank | Constituency | Winning party 2017 | Swing required | Labour's place 2019 | Result |
| 1 | Glasgow South West | SNP | 0.08% | 2nd | SNP |
| 2 | Glasgow East | SNP | 0.10% | 2nd | SNP |
| 3 | Airdrie and Shotts | SNP | 0.26% | 2nd | SNP |
| 4 | Lanark and Hamilton East | SNP | 0.36% | 3rd | SNP |
| 5 | Motherwell and Wishaw | SNP | 0.38% | 2nd | SNP |
| 6 | Inverclyde | SNP | 0.49% | 2nd | SNP |
| 7 | Dunfermline and West Fife | SNP | 0.81% | 2nd | SNP |
| 8 | Edinburgh North and Leith | SNP | 1.44% | 2nd | SNP |

### Scottish Liberal Democrats

| Rank | Constituency | Winning party 2017 | Swing Required | Liberal Democrats' place 2019 | Result |
| 1 | North East Fife | SNP | <0.01% | 1st | Liberal Democrats |
| 2 | Ross, Skye and Lochaber | SNP | 9.67% | 2nd | SNP |
| 3 | Argyll and Bute | SNP | 15.04% | 3rd | SNP |
| 4 | Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey | SNP | 18.26% | 3rd | SNP |

### Scottish National Party

| Rank | Constituency | Winning party 2017 | Swing required | SNP's place 2019 | Result |
| 1 | Stirling | Conservative | 0.15% | 1st | SNP |
| 2 | Rutherglen and Hamilton West | Labour | 0.26% | 1st | SNP |
| 3 | Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath | Labour | 0.28% | 1st | SNP |
| 4 | Glasgow North East | Labour | 0.38% | 1st | SNP |
| 5 | Midlothian | Labour | 0.98% | 1st | SNP |
| 6 | Coatbridge, Chryston and Bellshill | Labour | 1.76% | 1st | SNP |
| 7 | Gordon | Conservative | 2.43% | 1st | SNP |
| 8 | East Lothian | Labour | 2.76% | 1st | SNP |
| 9 | Edinburgh West | Liberal Democrats | 2.83% | 2nd | Liberal Democrats |