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Scottish National Party

Origins

The Scottish National Party (SNP), formed by the alliance of the Scottish Party and the National Party of Scotland in 1934, is a political party that emerged from the campaign for Scottish Independence. Whilst the party existed effectively as a campaign group for most of its history, winning few seats at a parliamentary level, they have become a dominant force in Scottish politics over the last 30 years. The SNP, whilst focusing on Scottish independence from the United Kingdom, does have set policy positions on a number of areas, notably they only stand candidates in Scotland.

The party currently constitutes a minority government in the Scottish Parliament, the devolved assembly that sets laws on finance, transport, and other areas of policy for the country, and is the third largest party in Westminster.

The party has recently changed leaders, with John Swinney returning to the SNP leadership after a 20 year hiatus. 

Election results
The 2024 General Election saw the number of seats held by the SNP collapse to 9, down 39 from the last election in 2019. It was their worst Westminster election result since 2010, with a vote share of 2.5%, a significant decrease from 3.9% in 2019. By 2024 the SNP had been in power for 17 years since 2007, making them by far the longest continuously governing party since devolution began in 1999. In April 2024, the SNP under Humza Yousaf ended the formal power sharing deal with the Scottish Greens which had been in place since August 2021, making the SNP a minority government for the first time since 2011.

Similarly to the Conservative Party who had also enjoyed over a decade in power, the SNP suffered from several crises which raised questions about their ability to govern and whether they could be trusted by the public. A police investigation into Peter Murrell, the Chief Executive of the SNP and husband of former First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, affected the party's reputation and finances, with Murrell ultimately being charged with embezzlement. John Swinney, who was elected unopposed as the new party leader just two months before the election, faced an uphill battle, with a declining party membership and public policy failings on devolved policy areas such as health and education. 

Despite these challenges, in the May 2026 Scottish Parliament election, the SNP won its fifth consecutive victory, securing 58 seats and remaining comfortably the largest party in Scotland, some way ahead of Labour and Reform UK, who tied for second on 17 seats each. Under John Swinney the party won all three Aberdeen constituencies and held its position despite a fragmenting political landscape, in which Reform UK surged from zero seats to become a major force in Scottish politics for the first time. While the SNP fell seven seats short of a majority, and its vote share declined from the previous election, its ability to remain the dominant party after nearly two decades in government and against a backdrop of party scandals points to a level of continued electoral resilience despite not being as popular in Westminster.

Key voter demographics 

As the SNP only campaigns and puts forward candidates in Scotland, national polling often struggles to represent the SNP vote share. On a UK-level, SNP support sits reasonably consistently at around 4%. When restricting our view to Scotland, the SNP’s popularity has bounced between 30% and 40% since the last election (in both Westminster and Scottish parliament voting intention polling). Polling around independence, a, if not the, major issue for the party and a major factor for voters, has remained semi consistent since the last independence referendum in Scotland, with both Yes and No bouncing around the 50% mark.

As most polling that details voting intention in terms of age, gender, and education is done on a UK level, it is difficult to draw strict conclusions from the data. However, it is notable that SNP support seems to be reasonably consistent across all these demographics. The SNP won its highest vote share in the last election in the Central Belt, the region of Scotland containing both its major cities of Glasgow and Edinburgh.

Environmental policy

The SNP’s relationship with environmental policy has long been shaped by the tension between its ambition to lead on climate and its economic reliance on North Sea oil and gas. The party has built an early reputation for climate leadership, setting some of the most ambitious statutory targets in the world, including a commitment to net zero emissions by 2045, five years ahead of the UK-wide target. However, this ambition has repeatedly collided with the party’s need to protect jobs in the North East of Scotland, where tens of thousands of livelihoods remain tied to the offshore energy sector. This has led to the SNP avoiding a total ban on extraction, and instead taking a case by case approach to new oil and gas licenses, weighing both the environmental implications and energy and job security. 

The SNP’s climate policy as recent as the 2026 local elections manifesto was frequently framed through the language of a “just transition”. It reconciles sticking to its target of net zero emissions by 2045, supporting 500 additional jobs at Grangemouth and £500 million for the Just Transition Fund for workers and businesses in the North East, against no explicit opposition to the Rosebank and Jackdaw developments. This balancing act shows the SNP attempt to appeal to voters who want to see leadership on climate, while also not alienating entire regions who are deeply embedded in fossil fuels.

Key climate and nature manifesto commitments

  • Continuing the statutory target to end Scotland's contribution to climate change by 2045, with a Climate Change Plan setting out actions to 2040 to cut emissions and improve energy security.

  • Energy: No new nuclear power stations, rather a focus on expanding renewable energy projects. Expansion of the Community and Renewable Energy Scheme (CARES) to £15 million to support community ownership of renewables and a ScotWind Wealth Fund to ensure future generations benefit from offshore wind revenues.

  • Transport: Nationwide £2 bus fare cap, extending pilots already running in the Highlands, Orkney and Shetland.

  • Agriculture: Increase in targeted financial support for farmers with climate-friendly farms that ensures agriculture remains resilient to climate change.

  • Nature: Scotland’s native woodlands through funding 18,000 hectares of woodland creation annually by 2029, with at least 40% of new native woodland by 2045. Invest £28 million this year to deliver 10,000 hectares of peatland restoration, and an additional investment of £15 million in flood mitigation and prevention.