--- description: They, however, lost their overall majority title: Scottish National Party Wins Scottish Parliamentary Election image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0719ec0fbf8ff4d7/6988921bab6d77120d6a9939/nicola-sturgeon-snp-historic.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Scotland](/tag/scotland/) ## Scotland Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Scottish National Party Claims 'Historic' Third Win in a Row by [Tara John](/author/tara-john/) ## Tara John Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close May 6, 2016 11:40 AM CUT  SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon arrives at the count for the Scottish Parliament elections at the Emirates Arena on May 6, 2016 in Glasgow,Scotland. SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon arrives at the count for the Scottish Parliament elections at the Emirates Arena on May 6, 2016 in Glasgow,Scotland.Jeff J Mitchell—Getty Images by [Tara John](/author/tara-john/) ## Tara John Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close May 6, 2016 11:40 AM CUT The Scottish National Party (SNP) won a third term to lead the government in Scotland’s Parliamentary elections, despite losing their overall majority. SNP leader [Nicole Sturgeon ](http://time.com/3839973/nicola-sturgeon-uk-election/ "undefined")declared their 63-seat win as historic, [reports the New York _Times_](http://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/07/world/europe/britain-election-results.html "undefined")_,_ as it represents the third consecutive victory in Scottish Parliamentary elections. However, the SNP are two short of the 65 seats required for a majority in the Parliament. The Conservative Party pushed Labour into second place, a significant result given Labour’s historical dominance of the region. U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron hailed the Conservative Party’s “[stunning results](https://twitter.com/BBCBreaking/status/728542028464717824 "undefined"),” winning 31 seats while the Labour Party slumped to 24, losing 13 seats. > [](https://twitter.com/David%5FCameron/status/728500525273100288) Without a majority, SNP will now be dependent on deals with rivals. \[[_NYT_](http://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/07/world/europe/britain-election-results.html "undefined")\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4320684/snp-scottish-elections-win-nicola-sturgeon/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4320684/snp-scottish-elections-win-nicola-sturgeon/"},"headline":"Scottish National Party Claims 'Historic' Third Win in a Row","datePublished":"2016-05-06T11:40:24.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T17:20:18.552Z","description":"But they lost their overall majority in the Scottish Parliament","url":"https://time.com/4320684/snp-scottish-elections-win-nicola-sturgeon/","keywords":["Scotland","Scotland topic"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0719ec0fbf8ff4d7/6988921bab6d77120d6a9939/nicola-sturgeon-snp-historic.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Tara John","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/tara-john/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0719ec0fbf8ff4d7/6988921bab6d77120d6a9939/nicola-sturgeon-snp-historic.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon arrives at the count for the Scottish Parliament elections at the Emirates Arena on May 6, 2016 in Glasgow,Scotland.","caption":"SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon arrives at the count for the Scottish Parliament elections at the Emirates Arena on May 6, 2016 in Glasgow,Scotland.","creditText":"Jeff J Mitchell—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/scotland/","name":"Scotland"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4320684/snp-scottish-elections-win-nicola-sturgeon/","name":"Scottish National Party Claims 'Historic' Third Win in a Row"}}]}] ```