2019 United Kingdom general election

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All 59 Scottish seats to the House of Commons
Turnout	68.1% 1.6pp
First party Second party   Leader Nicola Sturgeon Boris Johnson Party SNP Conservative Leader since 14 November 2014 23 July 2019 Last election 35 seats, 36.9% 13 seats, 28.6% Seats won 48[n 1] 6 Seat change 13 7 Popular vote 1,242,380 692,939 Percentage 45.0% 25.1% Swing 8.1pp 3.5pp   Third party Fourth party   Leader Jo Swinson (lost seat) Jeremy Corbyn Party Liberal Democrats Labour Leader since 22 July 2019 12 September 2015 Last election 4 seats, 6.8% 7 seats, 27.1% Seats won 4 1 Seat change 6 Popular vote 263,417 511,838 Percentage 9.5% 18.6% Swing 2.8pp 8.5pp
Coloured according to the winning party's vote share in each constituency

The 2019 United Kingdom general election was held on Thursday 12 December 2019,^[1] 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^{[n 1]} out of 59 seats—a gain of 13 over those won in 2017, and 81% of the Scottish seats in the House of Commons.^[2]

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 managed to win 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.^[3][4]

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.^[5]

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.^[6] Former First Minister Alex Salmond and Westminster leader Angus Robertson were among those who lost their seats.^[6]

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